Dangerous
by Kla1987
Summary: REPOST - AU/Dark Dacey - Lacey is a good girl, Danny is a very, very bad boy. Lacey knows what he is, she just doesn't care. Rated for gratuitous mentions of sex, drugs, alcohol, violence, and general debauchery. I don't own Twisted, just the storyline. Inspired by the song "Daddy" by Emeli Sande (don't own that, either). Enjoy - reviews are love!
1. Coming Home

**Coming Home**

Lacey stared blankly out the window as she rode along in the passenger seat of her mother's BMW. She fought hard to stifle the sigh that she felt rebelliously trying to come forth as her mother talked on and on about her expectations for the upcoming school year. Her sister Clara sat in the back seat, listening intently and nodding her head in agreement to everything Judy said. Lacey, though not at all interested in what her mother was saying to her, did her best to appear engaged. A few "Mmhmm"s, "Yes ma'am"s and "I understand"s was enough to satisfy the older woman that her daughter was hearing her. All Lacey could think about, though, was how things would be when she started school tomorrow.

Lacey had spent the entire summer before her senior year with her father in Seattle. It was an involuntary exile she had been sentenced to by her mother after a disastrous run in with the law at the end of the previous school year. Lacey and her friend Regina had attended a party after graduation that hadn't ended well. Lacey didn't remember much about that night except for how hot she and Reg both looked when they arrived at the party, and how not hot she looked as she was being dismissed from the hospital the following morning. The girls had gotten a little carried away with the alcohol and Lacey had suffered the worst of it. Her slight frame couldn't handle the copious amounts of alcohol her friends were partaking in, and she'd suffered from alcohol poisoning as a result of her attempts to try that night. She'd gotten her stomach pumped, and even had to be put on oxygen for awhile because her respiratory functions had become so depressed. It wasn't as if she were an alcoholic, and she was pretty sure someone had slipped her something, but that hadn't mattered to her parents at all. Even her longtime boyfriend, Archie, had broken up with her after that incident. He'd given her some excuse about "not being able to care about her more than she cared about herself"... please. It wasn't as if she got drunk often, or ever before that. It wasn't as if she'd done it on purpose... it was an accident, and something she never intended to repeat.

Her parents and sister, it seemed, had decided to make it their personal mission to make sure that she kept that promise to herself. And truthfully, Lacey didn't altogether mind it – although the attention was getting to be a bit much. She'd been a good girl all her life, all the way up until her junior year, anyway. She'd always done and said the right things, participated in the right activities, made the good grades. Even when she ventured into the world of stereotypical teenage rebellion, she'd still maintained that perfect image. In fact, if it hadn't been for that night, no one would have been the wiser. Lacey knew she could go back to that if she really tried – if it would keep her in town long enough to graduate.

"_God, I can't wait until May_," she thought to herself as they approached the town. Lacey could see the rolling hills with hidden cabins that distinguished this little place as the "Honeymoon Capital of New York". Soon they would be coming up on the lake, and then they'd cross the bridge that took them into town. She realized as she took it in just how much she'd missed home this summer. Living with her dad and Lawrence hadn't been very much fun – whoever said gay guys made the best friends clearly had never met her dad. Lawrence had been okay, she guessed, but it wasn't the same as being at home with her people. She was looking forward to going to school tomorrow and seeing Regina and Sarita and the rest of her friends. She hoped it wouldn't be awkward now that she and Archie were no longer together.

There was one other person she was really looking forward to seeing – maybe more than everyone else, if she were being honest with herself. Danny Desai – Green Grove's resident bad boy. Lacey bit her lip and closed her eyes as she thought about how sexy he looked with that perfect tan and jet black hair blowing long and loose in the wind. Danny had trouble written all over him, and Lacey had never wanted anyone more in her life. They'd had a brief but intense fling last spring while she and Archie were on the outs ("_Were we ever not_?" she thought sarcastically). Danny had been concerned about her the night of the party, too. She frowned a bit as she remembered the argument that they'd had earlier in the evening, something about him wanting to come clean about what they were doing and her not being ready to break up with Archie. Oh well, that ended that night anyway. She hadn't talked to Danny all summer, though. Between her phone being confiscated as part of her punishment and his adamant refusal to join everyone else in 2013 by creating a Facebook or Instagram or Twitter or anything – there hadn't been an opportunity for them to reconnect and mend fences.

"_Maybe that's for the best_" she thought, the sigh she'd been holding finally escaping. "_Danny just makes being a good girl that much harder_."

As they arrived at their home Lacey turned and looked at her sister.

"You ready for your first day of high school tomorrow, sissy?" she said, enjoying the smile that came to Clara's face as she used her special moniker for the girl.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Clara responded.

"What's up?" Lacey asked, noting that there was something short of happy coloring the younger girl's voice.

"It's nothing," Clara said, looking down as their mother popped the trunk and exited the car.

"C'mon Clare-bear," Lacey coaxed, "you can tell me – what's bothering you?"

"I'm just worried about you, Lacey," Clara said honestly. "After what happened last spring and... I just don't want anything else to happen to you."

Lacey sucked in a sharp breath, studying the concerned expression on her sister's face. Finally she responded, "What happened last year was an accident, Clara. No need to worry – it won't be happening again. I promise to stay out of trouble this year, okay?"

Clara broke into a smile as relief flooded her face, "Okay Lace!"

When she'd said it, Lacey had really just been trying to placate her little sister, but after seeing the broad smile the younger girl had shown her gave Lacey the resolve to actually try and keep her promise.

"_This is going to be a long year_," she thought as she headed into the house.


	2. School's In

**School's In**

"Laceeeeeyyyyyyyy!"

Lacey cringed just a little as she turned to see Regina barreling toward her, arms splayed and smile wide.

"Hey Reg," Lacey started as the other girl grabbed her up in a huge hug.

"Oh my God, Lace – where have you been? I've missed you all summer long – do you know how boring it's been the last three months without you here? So much has happened – I have so much to tell you!"

Lacey only half listened as her friend babbled on and on about all the things that comprised her eventful summer. Lacey was glad to be back at school, especially around her best friends, but she was still feeling a bit of anxiety. After having not seen anyone all summer, she was concerned about the direction this year would take – especially with her new promise to return to her less-rebellious roots. Regina and the girls wouldn't understand that.

Lacey was also nervous about seeing Danny again. She'd stayed up late the night before, tossing and turning in her bed, wondering what their first interaction would be like today. She'd briefly contemplated calling or texting him last night, but thought better of it. She decided texting was too impersonal (really she was just afraid), and she wanted to be able to look at him when she spoke to him. Danny had always been good at deflecting what he was thinking or feeling, but Lacey was always able to read his face. She wanted to be able to see him, so that she would know whatever reaction she got from him was sincere.

Lacey had decided after her talk with Clara that she wasn't going to fall back into a relationship with Danny. Although she was crazy about him, she knew that being with him would complicate her life beyond belief. She needed to tell him this, and to tell him why, before anything else came of it.

Just as she was contemplating what his reaction would be, the man himself suddenly appeared in the hallway. Lacey felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room as she took him in. There he was in front of her, looking as perfect as ever. His jeans were loose and low on his hips, and the tight white tee he was wearing complimented his toned abs and chest in the best way. He looked just like a modern-day James Dean, and it took everything she had not to kiss him right then. Instead, she just smiled tentatively as he approached her. She held her breath and closed her eyes, waiting, waiting, waiting and… nothing. She opened her eyes again, slightly confused at the absence of him. She looked down the hallway to see that he'd already passed her by with not even a glance backward in her direction.

"_Oh, so it's like that now_?" Lacey thought, raising an eyebrow in his direction as Regina yanked her arm, effectively pulling her out of her own mind as they headed off the opposite way toward their first class.

The rest of the day passed much the same as one would expect for the first day of your last year in high school to be. It was a litany of the same people she'd spent the last twelve years of her life with, all trying unsuccessfully to re-invent themselves for "senior year" in an effort to somehow escape the hole they'd dug for themselves socially over their time in this place. The unpopular girls had all gone and gotten a different version of the same haircut that was "all the rage" last year but now just looked tired and over-done. She wondered how many of their outfits had been purchased from the Abercrombie or Forever 21 stores at the mall the previous weekend's tax-free holiday, and how many more of them she would have to suffer through this week before they gave up on the whole "trying to be popular" thing and return to their designated place on the social ladder.

* * *

She didn't see Danny again that day until lunch – one of the caveats of being the school's resident bad boy was that you didn't care a whole lot about things like academics, and so Danny was in the standard classes while Lacey had opted for the AP route. It really was a shame about Danny, when she thought about it. Everyone made these assumptions about him not being smart but really he was just one of those that didn't apply himself. Lacey knew that he had an incredibly brilliant mind, and they had spent many nights together debating social and economic issues (among other things). It had just always seemed that he had zero interest in school. Danny had always been funny that way, though. He'd always been the kind of guy that just sort of did his own thing, consequences or social conventions be damned. It was one of her favorite things about him.

"_That and those lips…"_ she thought to herself as she pretended to listen to Sarita and Regina prattle on about their summers. Regina was in the midst of another boring diatribe about the pros and cons of each of her "boys of the summer". So far there had been "rich boy" and "beach boy" and "lifeguard boy" and some guy who had been the valet at her country club whom she'd hooked up with several times throughout the summer, but for whatever reason didn't merit a "boy" title. Lacey guessed he must not have been very good if he wasn't worth naming.

Suddenly, Lacey became acutely aware of the hush that swept through the dining hall. There was only one reason for that kind of reaction from the student body, and she knew all too well what that reason was. She didn't even bother looking up as he passed, suddenly finding her cesar salad incredibly interesting. Still, she knew when he'd gone by because the temperature in the room shifted almost imperceptibly, and everyone resumed their talking again. Lacey turned her head back to her friends, attempting to become engaged in their conversation once again, but immediately regretting it once she picked up on what Regina was saying now.

"That one – Danny Desai. He's going to be mine this year if it's the last thing I do."

_Oh yeah, this year is gonna be greeeeaaaat_.

* * *

**AN - Not sure if I'm liking this fic so far... I'm trying to do something outside of my angsty norm by trying out more fun/badness than drama and romance... we'll see how it goes. **

**Anyway, I have a general idea of what I want to happen, but it isn't all concrete yet, so I'd love some input if anyone has suggestions for something they'd like to see. Whether you like it or not, please let me know - I love the feedback!**

**KL**


	3. Don't Take it Personal

Don't Take it Personal

Lacey suffered through the remainder of the day, barely able to contain her excitement as the last bell finally rang at 3:00. She dropped her books off at her locker before making her way to the parking lot. She was on mission as she headed out the double doors and into the senior lot on the side of the building. Scanning the area quickly, she spotted him almost immediately, and began making her way toward him.

Upon seeing her approaching, Danny waved off the three or four guys standing at his car with him, telling them he'd catch up with them later. Lacey drew in a quick breath as she stood facing him, readying herself mentally for the conversation she knew they needed to have. She wasn't quite sure how to begin, so the two of them simply stood there for a few minutes, looking at each other, saying nothing. Finally, sensing she wasn't going to say anything, Danny took it upon himself to go first.

"Hey stranger," he said, a slight lilt in his voice as he leaned back into his black Camero, appraising her appreciatively.

"Hi Danny," Lacey said tentatively, still trying to psych herself up to the conversation at hand.

They were quiet again, him letting the silence between them linger a bit longer before responding, "So, was there something in particular you needed? You came over here like you had something on your mind…"

His cocky air was both off-putting and annoying to Lacey. "_Who does he think he is?_" she thought, huffing to herself before saying aloud, "Look Danny, I just wanted to talk to you for a minute. I wanted to tell you I'm sorry about how we ended things last semester, so that things won't be awkward between us this year."

"I wasn't planning on anything being awkward, Lace," he said, looking at her with an impassive, almost bored expression that only served to frustrate her more.

"It's just… I don't want to go back there again with you this year, you know? After all the trouble I got into at the end of the school year, I just wanna lay low and graduate. And as much fun as you are, we both know you're not the 'lay low and blend in' type… you understand?" She looked at him with a hopeful expression, hoping that he understood and that he wasn't angry with her. His reaction, though, wasn't what she'd been expecting at all.

"No worries, Lace," he said as he leaned up from the hood of his car and prepared to leave. "I figured by the radio silence that I got from you all summer that this was your decision. Of course, you could have just been honest with me that night, but whatever."

"Danny that isn't what I meant…" she started before he interrupted her again.

"Hey, I said it's cool, Lacey. I had three months to get over my heartbreak – I'm good. You don't have to worry about me ruining your plans to be a model student and daughter this year. But if you're really planning on sticking to that, you might want to re-evaluate who you're associating with. Remember, you weren't with me that night, you were with your clique."

Lacey opened her mouth to speak again, but Danny was already climbing into his car and cranking it, turning his music up loud enough that the sounds of Drake's "The Motto" drowned out anything else she'd thought about saying. He turned his head to her, giving her a two-finger salute before peeling out of the parking lot, leaving her there in a cloud of dust and confusion.

* * *

Lacey made her way over to her own car, where Regina, Phoebe, and Sarita were all waiting for her. She averted her eyes in an attempt to avoid their pressing looks as each girl stared her down before getting into the car. Regina, hopping in the front seat as usual, turned immediately to Lacey.

"So, you wanna tell us what that was all about?"

Lacey gave her friend the side-eye, responding, "What what was all about?"

"Oh come on, Lacey, you cannot just act like that didn't just happen. What were you talking to Danny about? I hope it wasn't me, because he didn't look that happy when he left and if you've ruined my chances with hooking up with him this year I will never forgive you," Regina prattled on, as self-absorbed as always.

"Oh that," Lacey said, trying her best to play it off as nothing, "no, Reg, that wasn't about you."

"Well what was it about then?" came Sarita's bitchy inquiry from the back seat. Sarita was the only one of Lacey's friends who knew that she'd been hooking up with him behind Archie's back last spring, and she made her disdain for Danny known to Lacey every chance she got.

"It was… nothing," Lacey said, looking for some way to get out of the conversation as quickly as possible. "Nothing important anyway. So, what's the plan for this afternoon - shopping?"

Sufficiently distracted by the prospect of spending their parents' money on clothes and shoes they definitely didn't need, the girls began debating the options for retail therapy that afternoon. They completely nixed the idea of going to the mall, the awful off-the-rack outfits they'd been forced to suffer through all day a visually painful reminder of the mediocrity of choices available there. Instead, they opted to drive over to the next town to this great little vintage boutique named _Déclassé_ that Lacey and Regina had discovered one weekend a few months before. It was the best place they'd found outside of Manhattan where they could get the kind of upscale, unique clothing they preferred to fit each of their individual styles.

As they each roamed around the little shop selecting their picks for the day, Sarita took the opportunity to get Lacey alone and out of ear shot of the others for a few minutes.

"So," she said as she walked up behind Lacey, who was busying herself trying on a pair of vintage Manolo pumps. "You plan on telling me what happened back there at school?"

Lacey caught the other girl's eye in the mirror, responding, "What? I told you guys, it was nothing."

"Didn't look like nothing," Sarita said, giving Lacey a knowing look. "It looked like a fight between boyfriend and girlfriend. Are you still seeing him?"

Lacey sighed in exasperation before responding, "No Sarita, I am not. Actually, that's what I was talking to him about. I told him I wasn't going to go there with him again this year, and he told me he was cool with it, and then he drove off. End of story."

"You sure?" Sarita asked, looking at her friend skeptically. "He looked pissed and you looked upset when you walked back over to the car. Are you sure there isn't any more to it?'

"Yes, Sarita, I'm sure," Lacey said, letting some of her irritation show through. "I told him it was over, officially, and he reacted in usual Danny fashion. I was a little miffed about that, but that's beside the point. The important thing is that I'm done with him, and will now be moving on to other things."

Sarita, though still unconvinced, decided to leave it alone for now. Lacey was a big girl, she knew how to handle herself. And it wasn't as if Sarita had anything against Danny exactly – she just wanted to make sure that Lacey was taken care of, and she wasn't convinced that Danny was capable of that. Danny had a reputation of being a womanizer, and those rumors hadn't abated at all during the time he was not-so-secretly dating Lacey. Plus there was the whole thing about his illegal side-hustle and his general bad-assness that only served to further convince Sarita that he was no good for Lacey. Lacey really was one of the few good people that Sarita knew, and she didn't want her corrupted – at least, not by Danny Desai.

Sarita was suddenly brought back to the present as she realized Lacey was calling her name and waving her hands to get her attention. She cursed herself internally as she composed her face and paid attention to what her friend was asking. She hoped she hadn't missed much of their conversation.

"I was asking," Lacey said, clearly frustrated again, "what do you think about the shoes? Does it look like I have chicken legs?"

Sarita snorted a little as she took in Lacey's lithe frame and long slender legs which the high heels of the shoes only served to further accentuate. Chicken legs? Was she insane?

"No bitch, you're perfect. The shoes look great - get them, and that dress too."

Lacey smiled at the compliment and went back to the dressing room to change back into her regular clothes before making her way to the cash register to pay for her purchases. The other girls followed suite, and soon they were on their way back to their little town, all thoughts of Danny Desai forgotten as they made plans for the weekend.


	4. What's Done in the Dark

**AN – Okay guys, just a couple of things. First off, I know a couple of you said you don't like Lacey's Queen B attitude in this fic… that's kind of the point. Lacey (at the beginning of this) is really fake and self-absorbed. She's playing a role (much like she does on the show), and she does a good job at it. She's nice to who she needs to be, and to those she actually likes, but doesn't care much about anyone else. We'll explore that a little more as her character develops - hang with me, I promise it'll be fun.**

**Also – no shade to anyone named Ashley or Amber or Emily, I just needed some examples… you'll see what I mean when you get there. Enjoy! **

* * *

**What's Done in the Dark**

The next several weeks passed in largely without incident. Lacey went about her usual activities in her usual way and it was all very… routine. On the upside, though, was the fact that her mother and sister had stopped treating her like some sort of mental patient that needed to be watched constantly lest she revert back to her less than savory ways. Still, the boredom and tediousness of it all was suffocating, and Lacey felt that she might explode from all the unspent energy she'd been holding onto.

School was only marginally better. Clara was doing well adjusting to high school, and the two of them had become much closer since Lacey returned from her father's house in August. Lacey hung out with her friends just about every night during the week, but usually opted to stay home on the weekends, because that was the time when her girls decided to let their hair down. While Lacey was confident she could maintain her good girl promise and still go out with her friends on the weekend, her mom wasn't quite as convinced. Lacey knew that arguing the point with Judy was a losing battle, so she just didn't bother.

The worst part about not going out with the girls was hearing the Monday morning re-cap of everything that had transpired over the previous two days. Lacey couldn't help feeling a little left out because she had to receive all the good "tea" (a term Regina had insisted on using after she'd heard one of her favorite gay boyfriends use it at one of the many parties she'd attended over the summer) second-hand. Today's recap was the worst to date, because it (unfortunately) focused on one person in particular.

"I can't believe he's dating that tramp this week," Regina said, malice dripping from her words as she looked across the quad to where Danny was standing talking to a girl who's name escaped Lacey at the moment. It was something typical… Amber, Ashley, Emily…? Whatever it was, it was about as memorable as the girl who wore it. Lacey silently appraised the girl, only half listening to Regina rant aloud about her attempts to get Danny to notice her at some shindig they'd both attended over the weekend. The girl was cute, she decided, if you were into that type. She smiled a lot and had long blonde hair and one of those squeaky voices that made it seem like everything she said was a question. She couldn't imagine that Danny was really interested in her – what could they possibly have to talk about? Then again, the vibes Lacey got from appraising their body language led her to believe there was very little in the way of conversation going on in their relationship.

Lacey shrugged her shoulders in dismissal, turning away from the nauseating couple and focusing her attention back on her friends. They were currently dissecting all of Danny's escapades since the school year had started. So far they'd been in school for just over eight weeks, and in that time, he'd been linked to six different girls – none of which were Regina. This, Regina had decided, was simply unacceptable.

"I just don't get it," Regina whined, looking to her friends for support, "what do any of those basic bitches have that I don't? How could he possibly prefer _that_" (she paused dramatically, giving each girl the opportunity to look back over at the nameless blonde still talking to Danny) "over _this_?"

Sarita snorted rudely, earning a glare from Regina as she said, "Maybe you're just not his type, Reg. From what I understand, he likes variety, and you're pretty much the standard around here. No offense."

Regina looked indignant at her friend. "I am anything but standard, Rita. I'm offended that you would even say such a thing. To compare me to these people is like comparing apples and tomatoes - vaguely similar in appearance, but one tastes so much sweeter than the other."

"_Did she really just say apples and tomatoes?"_ Lacey thought, laughing to herself. Aloud she said, "Reg seriously, maybe you should just give up. It looks like he isn't interested in you, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of guys around here who are. I just saw Scott giving you the once-over like, five minutes ago. You've been saying how delicious he looks since we were freshmen – maybe you should focus on getting that instead."

It was the third time this morning that Lacey had suggested that maybe Regina should stop going after Danny, and it struck her as odd that her friend would say such a thing to her – clearly as her best friend, Lacey knew better than to think that she'd give up this easily. Regina looked at Lacey suspiciously before responding, "I'm not interested in Scott anymore, but thanks. Besides, when have you ever known me to give up so easily? You know what I think, Lacey? I think you're jealous. I think you want him for yourself and you're just trying to get me out of the way." Regina stood, hands on her hips and eyes narrowed, waiting for Lacey to respond.

Lacey looked around nervously, suddenly realizing that Regina had attracted the attention of several passersby with her outburst. She quickly calmed herself, situating her face with a look of stoic indifference before rising to Regina's challenge.

"Of course you would think that, Reg. How dare I be a good enough friend to try telling you as gently as possible that you should stop making a fool of yourself by throwing yourself at a guy who so clearly doesn't want anything to do with you? But whatever, don't worry, I won't be making that mistake again anytime soon."

Regina studied the other girl's face, trying to decide whether she was sincere or if she was just covering her own ass. "God, you're such a bitch Lacey."

Lacey leaned back in a relaxed stance, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at the redhead in front of her. "Takes one to know one, Reg."

For a moment the courtyard was silent as all eyes were trained on the two teen queens. Every eye in the near vicinity flitted anxiously between the two girls, wondering what was about to go down. The tension continued to mount as neither girl spoke for a long while, so long in fact that even Sarita and Phoebe began to worry that the girls were about to engage in a full on catfight.

Then, just as quickly as it started, the tension seemed to dissipate. Regina broke out into a wide grin and opened her arms, pulling Lacey in for a hug which she stiffly reciprocated. "You know I love you Lacey- you may be a bitch but I'm glad you're my bitch."

Suddenly everything returned to normal between the girls as they grabbed Sarita and Phoebe, making a chain four wide and heading into the building to their classes. The rest of the audience stood momentarily dumbfounded at what had just occurred, before moving on to their respective destinations for the day. Only Danny hung back from the crowd, deciding to stay outside and continue to enjoy the fresh air in lieu of crowding into the biology classroom he was assigned to first block. As he watched the foursome head into the building arm in arm, he noticed Lacey turn back. For just a moment their eyes locked and he felt as if time itself had stopped. But the moment was fleeting, and she refocused her attention on her friends as she made her way through the doors. Their connection had been powerful but brief, and it left him wondering if it had ever really happened at all.

* * *

The rest of the school day was largely uneventful, and Lacey arrived at home both tired and restless. Her mom and sister were gone for the next few hours to Clara's horse riding lessons, and so Lacey had the house to herself. She briefly considered inviting Sarita over, but thought better of it when she remembered that the girl had plans with Regina that afternoon. She definitely wasn't in the mood for another showdown with Regina today – they might have called a truce in the quad earlier that morning, but Lacey knew that their disagreement was far from over.

Deciding that she needed to get away from her house for awhile to avoid going stir crazy, Lacey went upstairs and changed into her workout clothes. Running was one of the few things that had always been able to calm Lacey's nerves when she was frazzled – actually, aside from Danny, running was the only thing that helped her clear her mind. "_Wonder what he's up to this afternoon?"_ she thought to herself, letting her mind wander idly as she stripped out of her school clothes and grabbed a tank and compression leggings from her dresser drawer. She closed her eyes briefly, remembering him from earlier this morning. He'd looked so perfect standing in the courtyard before school, his hair pulled back in a loose bun at the nape of his neck and his signature white Henley and jeans ensemble covering the rest of him. She remembered watching him lightly brush some loose tendrils behind his ear as he spoke to the dumb blonde that'd been standing in front of him and imagined pulling his hair loose from its elastic and threading her hands into it as she pulled him in for a kiss.

"_Danny always did have the best kisses_," she thought wistfully, bringing herself back to the present as she bent to tie the laces of her running shoes. Lastly she pulled her long hair back into a ponytail and picked up her iPod as she made her way downstairs. She stopped at the refrigerator just long enough to grab a bottle of water and headed out the door, already jogging as she advanced down her driveway. She turned on the Pop Fitness station on Pandora and set about running to the track that circled the nearby park. Once there, she completed her normal routine, alternating between a steady jog and full on sprints for a full four miles. Finally, once she'd sufficiently tired herself out, Lacey decided it was time to head back home.

She jogged the four blocks back to her house slowly, using the distance as a cool-off period for her to come down from her workout. When she arrived, she noted that her mother and sister still hadn't made it back, and so she went inside, wanting to take a shower before starting dinner for the family. She'd barely made it to the stairs when the doorbell rang, forcing her to turn around. She approached the door, opening it after checking to see who was on the other side.

"Are you Lacey Porter?" the delivery man asked. When she confirmed, he handed her his digital scanner so that she could sign for the package and then handed her the thick envelope he was holding in his other hand. "Thank you ma'am – have a great night."

Lacey returned his pleasantries before closing the door behind him, looking curiously at the envelope in her hand. "What in the world is this?" she wondered, moving over into the kitchen and sitting at the bar. She stared at the package for a long time, speculating about the contents and debating whether or not she should open it. Finally her curiosity got the better of her, and she grabbed a butter knife from the utensil drawer, skimming it across the top of the envelope and opening it in one fell swoop. She looked inside, confused as she pulled out a folded letter and another, smaller envelope. The second envelope looked to be the kind that she remembered getting when her mother picked up film that'd been developed from the pharmacy when she was younger. She looked back and forth between the two items, an uneasy feeling rising in her gut as she tried to figure out why someone would be sending her old school films.

"Too late to turn back now," she thought to herself, sighing as she placed the film envelope on the counter, opening the letter first. As she unfolded the heavy paper, she became even more perplexed when she realized that there was only one line on the note:

"_**There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact**_."

That's it – cryptic and confusing. Lacey furrowed her brow, turning the paper over and looking inside the original envelope to make sure that she hadn't missed anything. After a minute or two she'd convinced herself that there was nothing more to be gleaned from the strange message, and so she instead focused her attention on the photo envelope. Steeling herself, she picked it up and opened it, suddenly horrified at what she saw inside.

"What the fuck?"


	5. Things Fall Apart

**Things Fall Apart**

Lacey could feel the bile rising in her throat as she stared at the pile of pictures in front of her. She looked at them over and over again, trying to make some sense of them. In front of her were hundreds of images of her mother and her father in various settings. The timestamp on the bottom of each image illustrated that this was meant to convey a progression in time, and she could tell by the subtle changes in the way her mom dressed and wore her hair in each picture that the photos chronicled something that had been happening over several years.

What was so disconcerting about the photos, though, wasn't her mother's questionable wardrobe choices over the years. It was the fact that in each and every one of the pictures her parents were accompanied by Mitch, her dad's former lover. The images seemed to tell a story that was drastically different from everything that Lacey had come to know about her parents and the events surrounding their divorce. Judy had made it seem over the last year that she'd been completely caught off guard by the revelation that her ex-husband was gay. Lacey remembered all the times she'd held onto her mother while she sobbed about the dissolution of her marriage, and railed against her father for completely humiliating Judy. She'd adored her father before this incident, but with the end of her parents' marriage also came the end of her relationship with him. She'd never been able to forgive him for what (she thought) he'd done to their family, but now she wondered if she'd been wrong all along. Because looking at these photos, it was very clear that her mother knew about her father's indiscretions for a much longer time than she'd let on, even seemed complicit in the arrangement. There were several shots of her father and Mitch kissing and holding hands, and her mother looking on with what appeared to be a smile on her face, as if there was nothing strange or out of the ordinary about any of it. Lacey couldn't make sense of it at all.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she heard the door open as her mother and sister arrived home from the horseback riding lesson, but she was frozen in place. She heard Clara on the stairs as she headed to her room; at the same time her mother walked into the kitchen where she sat. Judy greeted her oldest daughter, asking her about her day and, at first anyway, not noticing that something was amiss. She went to the cabinets to retrieve pots and dishes, preparing to start dinner.

"Thought you were going to cook tonight, Lacey – are you just getting here, too?" Judy said, sticking her head into the refrigerator for eggs. At the continuing silence from her daughter, she finally turned and looked at Lacey, becoming worried at the tears she saw welling up in her eyes.

"Lacey, honey, what's wrong?" she asked, moving to hug the teen. Lacey, however, wasn't having any of it.

"Don't touch me mother!" she spat icily at the older woman. She watched as Judy visibly recoiled, flummoxed as to what would have elicited such a reaction from her daughter. It was then that she noticed the pile of pictures on the counter – suddenly it felt as if the room were spinning.

"What – what the hell is that?" Judy stammered.

"You tell me, mother," Lacey said, crossing her arms and facing Judy, her expression anything but understanding. "Someone delivered these to me about an hour ago, along with a creepy not that said 'There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact'. At first I didn't get it, but now, looking at the pictures, it's obvious. You knew – you knew the whole time that dad was gay, didn't you?"

"Lacey," Judy began, fighting to keep her voice steady, "you don't understand. Let's talk about this, please?"

"Go ahead mom – explain this. Explain to me how you've known for years that your husband was into other men, but then acted like you were so devastated and hurt when you guys got divorced last year. Explain why you watched me hate him every day for what he did to you. You destroyed my relationship with him – I loved him and you took that away from me with your lies! So yes, please explain to me – tell me something, anything that will make any of this better."

Lacey stopped, catching her breath and looking at her mother expectantly, but the woman just crumbled to the floor crying. "You don't understand Lacey, you don't understand what it was like. You don't understand what it's like to lose out on your own chance at love trying to keep up this façade….you don't understand…"

Judy continued to cry, repeating the same things over and over again, but Lacey had no more mercy for her at this point. Because the truth was, she did understand, better than her mother thought. She understood because she'd been doing the same thing for as long as she could remember – denying what she wanted and how she felt just to please her parents.

"I do understand mom, because I've been doing it, too. Looks like we're all just a bunch of fucking pretenders here. But you know what? I'm not doing this shit with you anymore. I've been busting my ass to stay in your good graces since I got back because you made me feel like such crap for doing normal teenage stuff when all the time, you've been lying to me about EVERYTHING! But that stops now. You may be my mother in name, but I've officially lost all respect for your parental authority. I will go out with whom I want, when I want, and I'll do whatever I want. "

"Lacey," her mom started, attempting to inject some authority in her voice but coming up empty.

"You know what? Just save it – I'm not listening to anything else you have to say anyway. I'm going over to Sarita's, don't wait up on me."

With that, Lacey spun on her heel and walked out the door, leaving her mother crying on the kitchen floor.

* * *

Lacey drove around aimlessly for awhile, needing to calm down before she went to see her friends. She looked quickly at her cell and noted that she had 13 missed calls, 11 from her mother, one from Sarita and one from Regina. Of course her mother had called them – Judy was always up for a good show of theatrics.

Lacey sighed to herself, texting each of her friends to let them know she was okay and would come by soon, she just needed a few minutes alone to decompress.

Lacey pulled into a parking spot near one of the downtown shops and cut the car off. She leaned back against the headrest and closed her eyes, rubbing her temples in an effort to ward off the impending migrane. As her phone rang for the 14th time in half an hour, Lacey briefly considered throwing it out the window and running over it, if only so that she wouldn't have to continue hearing the incessant ringing. Fortunately, her saner mind prevailed, and she simply put it on silent instead. She sat in her car for a long time staring out at the night as she tried to wrap her mind around the bizarre situation that just unfolded at her home. How had her mother known about her dad for so long and stayed married to him? What had she meant when she said that she'd lost out on her only chance at love because of her father? What else about her life was a lie?

Frustrated, Lacey called the only person she really wanted to talk to right then. She wasn't sure if he'd answer or how receptive he'd be given the strained relationship they had as of late, but she figured it was worth a shot. She picked up her phone and, after waiting patiently for yet another of her mom's calls to finishing ringing through, she searched her contacts for his number. Before she could hit send, though, another message came from her mother. Irritated by this point, Lacey put Judy on her block list, and then dialed Danny's number.

She waited a few tense moments as the phone rang before finally someone picked up.

"Hello?" came the breathless voice of an unknown female. Lacey couldn't tell if the girl's sexy tone was because she was in the middle of something or if she'd woken her up – either way she didn't like it at all.

"Hello?" the girl asked again, this time slightly more composed. Lacey heard Danny in the background asking who was on the phone. "I don't know," the girl replied, her words muffled as she held her mouth away from the receiver. "They aren't saying anything."

Danny must've taken the phone from her then, because the next voice she heard was his.

"Lace? Is that you?"

Lacey fought back tears as she tried to remember how to speak. "_Of course he's with someone_," she chastised herself internally, "_you already knew he wasn't waiting around on you._" Still, it was one thing to hear in passing that he was dating, and another thing entirely to hear the girl's voice on the other end of the phone.

"Lacey – are you there? Is everything okay?" he repeated, concern lacing his voice as he waited for her to respond.

"Yeah, Danny, I'm fine. I just wanted to talk but… yeah I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll let you get back to your company," she said through gritted teeth, trying to get this conversation over as quickly as possible – she should have known this was a bad idea.

"No Lace, I'm not… I mean, are you okay? You sound like you're crying."

"I'm good," she lied. "I was upset about something but… it's no big deal. I'll let you go."

She hung up abruptly, not waiting to hear anything else he had to say. It felt as if someone had gutted her, and she didn't even know why. It wasn't as if they were together anymore – he was free to date whomever he wanted… but that didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell to know he actually was.

Lacey dried her tears and wiped her hands on her pants before cranking her car and heading to Regina's (Sarita had texted her in the interim and let her know they'd gone to the other girl's house for the night). When she arrived, their faces were full of concern, letting her know that they were there for her if (when) she wanted to talk about whatever had happened.

But Lacey didn't want to talk about it – she didn't even want to remember what had happened for awhile. "I just want to feel good," she said as she sunk down on Regina's plush king sized bed.

"Well, if that's the case, I've got just the thing for you," Regina said, smiling mischievously as she held out a little baggy for her friend. Inside was an assortment of pills, all in a rainbow of pretty pastel colors. Ecstasy – just what Lacey needed to take her mind off of things for awhile.

"You know if you do this, you officially forfeit your rights to the 'good girl' title, right?" Sarita said, looking at her friend dubiously as she poured the little pills into her hand, separating them by color.

"Yeah, about that," Lacey said as she selected which of the pills she wanted for herself. She settled on one pink and one blue, imagining that they would mix together to form a purple haze for her subconscious. "I'm not that interested in being a good girl anymore – I'd much rather just be myself."

The two girls watched as Lacey popped both pills into her mouth and swallowed, reclining once again into the pile of pillows at the head of the bed and closing her eyes, ready for her high. They laughed as they repeated her actions, laying down on either side of her.

"Welcome back to the dark side, Lacey Porter," Regina said gleefully, "we've missed you!"

* * *

**AN – Someone asked about Jo in this fic. Right now, I'm undecided about whether or not I'm going to include her, but if I do, it won't be as part of a love triangle scenario with Danny and Lacey. I'm getting a little tired of that, so I've decided that once I finish "Save Tonight" I won't be working on anything else that includes that particular aspect for awhile. Besides, y'all already know I ship Dacey all the way, and even though I don't exactly dislike Jo, Janny just isn't my thing. I don't think I could make it believable even if I tried… lol. **

**I do have a rather unique idea for where she fits into the story, though, so I might put her in… still working out the particulars.**

**Also – we'll finally get some Dacey action in the next update, as well as a look into Danny's mind. Plus, I promised you guys plenty of debauchery, and I assure it is on the way! This chapter was pretty much the end of "good girl" Lacey. **

**As always, reviews are love, and I appreciate all of yours – until tomorrow!**


	6. Good Girl Gone Bad

**AN – So, yeah, I made my decision about Jo. She's in here, but don't hate me – I promise she's not going to make problems for Dacey… Regina on the other hand, you should probably worry about.**

**Also, I decided to go ahead and write this chap for you guys and post it early because I'm excited to get to the next chapter. Now that I've decided I actually like the story I feel compelled to keep writing. **** Plus my system is down at work today. :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Good Girl Gone Bad**

Lacey woke the next morning to find herself still in Regina's bed, her limbs tangled with those of the two girls sleeping next to her. She smiled to herself as she remembered the previous night's shenanigans. Once the X had taken effect the three of them became a giggling mess. They'd spent the rest of the night laughing randomly and touching everything in sight to see how it felt. The thing about taking those little pills was that it brought you into sensory overload, and it made it feel as if you were seeing, touching, feeling, experiencing everything for the first time. Lacey vaguely remembered Regina laying on her floor to rub her face against the shag rug not too long after she'd had hers, but that was just because Regina always took too much. She also thought she remembered Sarita's hands running through her hair and down her neck in a way she wasn't entirely comfortable with.

"_I'm sure that part was just my imagination_," she said to herself as she moved each of the other girls' arms and legs and heads away from her body so that she could get up. She chuckled to herself as she looked at the brown icing covering Regina's face and fingers. Regina always got a hankering for sweets when she was high, and last night she was craving them so badly she couldn't even wait until they cooked the brownies, insisting on eating the batter straight from the bowl instead. Yeah, Regina had definitely taken too much.

She looked over at the digital clock by the redhead's bed, panicking when she realized it was almost 10:00 am.

"Reg, Rita, get up! We've got to get to school!" she said, practically shouting at them as she scrambled out of bed.

"Ugh, I'm not going," Sarita mumbled, turning over and burrowing further under the covers.

"Yeah, Lace, let's just take a day – you're a teen delinquent now, remember?" Regina said sarcastically, still not opening her eyes.

"No bitches - get up. We can laze around some other day, but we've got a test today in Calculus, and I am not missing it." Lacey was firm in her words as she gathered a towel and wash cloth from her friend's closet and rushed to take a shower. Her calc test was immediately following lunch, and they needed to get to school.

Fifteen minutes later Lacey emerged from the bathroom, toweling herself off and noting in dismay that her friends were still in the bed. Both girls had by this time roused themselves somewhat, but it was obvious that they were both still pretty out of it.

"Fine – y'all can stay here wallowing in brownie batter all day, but I'm going to school. I'll see you two after."

With that, she headed back into Regina's closet, retrieving a set of her backup clothes from the little section of the area that had been claimed as hers. There wasn't much here except club clothes, and Lacey wasn't about to wear that to school – good girl or not. After a few minutes of deliberation, she decided to just go with a pair of dark wash skinnies and a black tank that was so tight it should probably be moved to undershirt only status. It wasn't her ideal outfit, but she decided it didn't much matter. It wasn't as if she was going to be at school very long today anyway. She borrowed some black wedges and a pair of simple diamond studs from Regina. She'd already brushed her teeth and applied some minimal makeup in the bathroom earlier, and now she ran a brush through her wavy hair quickly, thankful that it had been spared the wrath of Regina's brownie fiasco the night prior. She appraised herself in the full length mirror, emerging once she was satisfied with how she looked. It was one of those weird fall days that wasn't quite warm and wasn't quite cold, so she also grabbed a light jacket in case she got cool later. She blew her friends a kiss and took her keys and phone, breezing out the door and heading to school just as the clock hit 10:30.

* * *

Lacey got to school just before 11:00, and after spending the better part of fifteen minutes convincing the secretary that she'd had a personal emergency that prohibited her from arriving on time and that no, it wasn't necessary to call her mother to confirm, she realized it was already time for lunch.

Most of the student body had already filled the lunchroom by the time she got there, but that didn't mean Lacey's presence wasn't noticed immediately as soon as she stepped through the doors. It was as if everyone could sense that something had changed about her, although aside from having spent almost zero time on her appearance that morning, she didn't feel like she looked any different than usual. There was, however, a subtle but definite change in the way she carried herself, and it made all the difference in the way the others looked at her.

She bypassed the lunch line, not hungry, and made her way over to the usual table to sit with Phoebe and some of the lesser members of their crew. She'd only been sitting for a few minutes, telling her friends a watered-down version of what had happened the night before at Regina's when she felt him walk up behind her. It was as if every nerve in her body was suddenly on high alert, and he didn't even have to speak for her to know he was there. She turned her head just as he was reaching out to touch her shoulder.

"Hey," she said warily, both excited and confused as to why he would be coming up to her.

"Hey yourself," he said, that familiar lazy smile she loved so much creeping across his face, "listen, can I talk to you for a minute – outside?"

She looked him up and down a few times, smiling to herself as she pretended to decide whether or not she was going. Finally, after several long moments of deliberation, she took his hand and led him into the hallway.

"So Mr. Desai," Lacey asked once they were away from the loud din and prying eyes of the cafeteria, "how can I help you?"

Danny looked her up and down, noticing with appreciation the marked difference in her demeanor. It felt so good to be this close to her after all the time they'd spent apart. As usual, Lacey had a way of making him forget himself around her and he struggled now to remember what he'd needed to talk to her about.

"I – I just wanted to check on you and make sure everything was okay," he said, snapping out of his daze, "I mean, last night you sounded pretty upset and then you didn't answer when I tried to call you back… I was worried about you."

Lacey cut her eyes at him as he brought up their brief conversation the night before. "I'm surprised you had time to worry about me. From what I could tell, you had plenty else to keep you occupied." She couldn't control the tinge of jealousy that crept into her voice and Danny was able to take momentary pleasure at hearing it. He'd spent the better part of the last five months missing her, and it made him happy to know that she still had feelings for him, too, even if she hadn't admitted it yet.

"You can wipe that smirk off now, Danny," she said, her voice becoming indignant. He knew that she didn't like being made to feel like she wasn't in control, and he could tell by her body language that she was becoming increasingly agitated. Still, he couldn't resist giving her a hard time...

"C'mon Lace, is that really fair? You've barely spoken to me in months except to tell me that you don't want to be with me anymore, and now you're mad because you think I was 'otherwise occupied' when you finally decided you wanted to talk to me?"

She furrowed her eyebrows together as he was speaking, the truth in his words hitting a little too close to home. He was right – she hadn't been fair to him at all throughout this whole ordeal. If she wanted to make things work between them (she did), she realized she was going to have to put in some effort to win him over – and she may as well start by being honest with him.

"Danny," she said sincerely, "you're right, okay? I'm sorry for the way I've been acting lately. It's just that everything in my life kind of went to shit after graduation last spring, and I had to go away all summer. I didn't have phone or internet access really, so I couldn't get in touch with you. When I got back my mom told me I had to be on my best behavior or else I wouldn't get to graduate here… I just couldn't risk it. You're amazing to me, but you have a tendency to make me forget myself sometimes, you know? I just thought it would be easier for me to stay in line if I avoided you."

She paused for a moment, trying to gauge his reaction before continuing, "And then last night she and I got into this huge fight and when I left the house I realized you were the only person I wanted to talk to – the only person who could make me feel better."

"So why couldn't you just tell me that?" Danny asked, his eyes challenging. He knew he was putting her on the spot, but he felt he deserved some sort of explanation. "You knew how I felt about you and you just up and blew me off like I was nothing because I was no longer convenient to you."

Lacey balked at the hurt that colored his voice as he said that – "_Is that what he really thinks_?" she thought to herself.

He'd been making a concerted effort to keep the conversation light up until now, but something about the way she was looking at him made him need her to tell him the truth. He needed her to give him a reason to either stay or go, because he was tired of being stuck in limbo waiting.

"Danny, I'm sorry," she said, taking his hand and pulling him in close, "I really wasn't trying to hurt you. I was just trying to do the easiest thing for everybody and I guess… I got confused. But then, after last night… let's just say hearing that girl answer your phone was like a wakeup call for me. The thing is I miss you, okay? I miss you and I want to give us another shot…"

She trailed off for a minute, hoping he would pick up and tell her that he missed her too. When he didn't, she continued in a rush, "I mean, I know you say you're over me, over us but… I'm not. I don't care about the other girls you've been with since we broke up, and I'm not asking you to decide anything right now, I just… just think about it, okay?"

She stopped talking after that, and studied his face as she watched her words sink in. She'd always been so good at reading him, but now she couldn't understand what she saw there. She knew he still wanted her, but she could also tell she'd hurt him deeply – maybe more than she'd realized. He definitely wasn't going to make this easy for her.

Danny just stood there as she finished speaking, his face situated in what he hoped was mostly an expression of amusement or indifference. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her right then, but he resisted. The biggest part of him wanted to jump right back in, no questions asked, but there was another part that was still hurting from her prior rejection. That part wouldn't let him go there with her again just yet.

"Good to know – I'll keep that in mind," he said, the cocky smirk returning to his face as he leaned away from her, turning to leave. "By the way, you look really good today – almost like the real you. I'll see you around okay?"

With that he sauntered off, leaving her breathless as she watched his retreating form. She felt alive for the first time in months, like being around him even for just those few minutes had suddenly brought her back to herself. She allowed a slow smile to come across her face as she replayed their conversation in her head. She was proud of herself for putting it all out there, and she knew her words had an effect on him even if he tried his best to hide it. They'd be together again – it was only a matter of time.

* * *

Danny headed to the senior parking lot after that, deciding that since the best part of his day (seeing/talking to Lacey) had already happened there wasn't much use in wasting the rest of a perfectly nice afternoon trapped inside the concrete jungle that was his high school. Apparently Jo had the same idea, because she was waiting for him at the Camaro when he got there. He smiled at seeing her, startling her as he unlocked the doors via the keyless remote before she'd been able to spot him.

"Someone's in a good mood today," she said, taking in the huge grin that he tried unsuccessfully to hide as he approached. "I take it then that your precious Lacey finally decided to talk to you?" It was rare to see her womanizing best friend so hung up on one girl, and she couldn't resist teasing him about it.

"Yes she did, actually, no thanks to you," he said in mock accusing.

"Whatever," she responded flippantly as she hopped into his front seat. "That was all thanks to me. I told you, girls can't stand it when they think you're with someone else. I did you a favor by answering your phone last night – jealousy is the perfect catalyst to make someone re-evaluate their feelings about you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah – because you're definitely the expert on women," he said, teasing her back now as they made their way out of the parking lot and headed downtown.

"As a matter of fact, I am," Jo huffed, "especially girls like her. Anyone with eyes could see that she's been missing you since school started. I'm just glad she finally grew a backbone and did something about it. Normally Lacey is pretty fun, but that 'Stepford wife' thing that she's been pretending to be all year was just annoying. Watching her with Regina and Phoebe was like living in Mean Girls every day, complete with our own real life version of the Plastics."

"Lacey is not plastic," Danny said, noting that Jo had failed to mention Sarita in her rude analysis of Lacey's friends. He catalogued that in his mind for later. "She's just really good at being fake when she wants to. I can't say I always like it, but it's come in handy for us more times than not, remember?"

"Sure, sure," Jo said, her mind going back to some of the many shenanigans that they'd taken part in. Lacey's wide eyes and innocent smile could always be counted on to convince the authorities (parents, police, whomever) that they were just a bunch of high schoolers having fun, no harm intended (even when that most certainly was not the case). Jo had to admit that she missed the girl, even if she did get on her nerves sometimes. "Plus, at least she's hot. Some of those chicks you've been messing around with this year have been…"

"Hey, hey now, I don't need you checking out my girlfriend, Masterson," Danny joked as they reached their destination.

"Relax man," she said, unbuckling her seatbelt, "that one is all yours. Lacey isn't exactly my type anyway… and since when is she your girlfriend again? Don't tell me you've forgiven her already. You can't make it that easy – have I taught you nothing!?"

Danny immediately regretted the word, having said it without thinking. But in truth, it was how he felt.

"No, she's not my girlfriend again – yet. She said she wanted to but I'm thinking I'm going to make her wait awhile. I am still hurting from her scathing rejection after all." Danny turned to look at Jo, giving her his most pitiful and forlorn look, but only succeeding in making her laugh.

"Yeah, sure Danny – we'll see how long that lasts. I give it another week before she wears you down – maybe. You've never been good at saying no to her." She laughed harder at his offended expression before continuing. "Don't look at me like that, because you know I'm right. It's a good thing she's just as crazy about you, because otherwise your little fixation with her would just be sad. But enough about that. We're here, so I need for you to get out of your little lovestruck mood long enough to feed me – I'm hungry!"


	7. Cake

**AN - A double update for you guys today because your reviews give me so much inspiration to keep writing... enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Cake**

The next few days passed in something of a whirlwind as Lacey got reacquainted with herself. She still refused to speak to her mom, though, so what little time she spent at home was divided between hanging out with Clara and holing up in her room. Her sister had tried a few times to get her to talk to Judy about what happened, but the older girl just told her she wasn't ready yet.

Despite a frustrating home situation, at school Lacey appeared to be on top of the world. She had an empowered feeling of ownership over herself since giving up her good girl act, and with the shedding of that façade came the end of all the inhibitions she'd placed on herself as well. Her walk was different, her smiles were real, and her attitude? It was like she was this new, grittier version of herself. She was still Lacey, but now she had a maturity and edge about her that she hadn't allowed to show through before.

Things with Danny made slow progress through the week. There had been several moments of flirtatious banter between them and even one time in the parking lot where she thought he might kiss her, but he'd backed away at the last second. He was teasing her, making her work for it, and it was maddening. By the end of the week she decided she'd had enough – the time for playing games was now over.

"_He's going home mine tonight if it's the last thing I do_," she thought, checking herself out in Regina's full length mirror. She and the girls were getting ready to crash a party at Club Debauchery tonight. The club was one of the few upscale 18 and up places in town, making it a favorite for the teen and college crowds on the weekend. Lacey knew Danny would be there tonight for two reasons – one, because most of his clients would be around and this was usually a pretty busy night for him since most of them used it to stock up on product for the next few days; and two, because she knew Jo had a crush on Mya, the pretty brunette bartender. They were in attendance at Debauchery pretty much every weekend for one or both of these reasons, and she knew tonight wouldn't be any different.

Sarita looked over at her friend as she shook out her hair, creating a blowout effect. "Damn Lacey! Who are you trying to impress tonight?"

Lacey's choice of outfit for the evening was a pair of black vinyl leggings and a black demi-bra under a sheer fuchsia tunic and black ankle boots. Her hair was loose and long, floating softly around her shoulders and her minimal makeup had just enough gold shimmer to compliment her flawless toffee skin beautifully. Her large brown eyes were rimmed subtly with a black kohl liner and the deep berry lip color she'd selected made her full lips stand out just that much more. Her outfit was tasteful yet sexy, and she knew she would command attention in it. Still, she played it cool to her friends. She knew her endgame for the evening was to leave on Danny's arm, but she was still unsure of how to handle the Regina factor in this situation.

"No one," she said nonchalantly, putting on her jewelry.

"Bullshit," said Regina, walking out of her bathroom to get a better look at her friend. "You're wearing 'fuck-me' heels, which means only one thing – you're trying to catch a man tonight."

"Or maybe I just felt like dressing up for myself, since this is my first weekend out with my girls in months," Lacey shot back, but the other girls weren't buying it.

Regina snorted, "Yeah, whatever, like I said – trying to catch a man. Who is it Lacey? You haven't shown interest in anyone since you and Archie broke up and I _know_ he's not who you're after. I mean, the only guy you've even given a second look to since school started is Danny Desai and I… wait. It's not him, is it?"

Lacey didn't respond, but she didn't need to – the look on her face was confirmation enough for Regina.

"You've got to be kidding me?!" Regina yelled, suddenly furious with her friend. "I knew it! I knew there was more to the whole 'Reg, maybe you should just leave him alone' than you just trying to be my friend. You've wanted him this entire time, haven't you?"

"Reg, stop – it's more complicated than that," Lacey said, "But yeah, honestly, I'm into him. I didn't want to say anything to you because I knew you liked him and it isn't like I was planning on getting with him anyway. And I was being honest with you when suggested you back off – that wasn't me being jealous, that was me being a good friend."

"Yeah, whatever," Regina said coolly, not deterred in the least. "I'm not mad Lacey, but it would have been nice if you'd just told me. I just hope you're not too upset when I win."

"When you win?" Lacey asked, looking at the girl, confused.

"Yeah, when I win. This is officially a competition now – whichever one of us gets him to leave with her tonight wins and the other has to fall back. But I've got to warn you, I've been working on Danny Desai since August – I doubt you'll be able to just swoop in and snag him in one night – I don't care how hot your ass looks in those pants."

"Challenge accepted," Lacey said confidently, turning back to her reflection. Regina had no idea, but she'd lost this game before it even started.

* * *

When they arrived at the club later that night, the party was already in full swing. The girls entered, bypassing the line and heading in through the VIP entrance. Once inside they saw that the area was alive with people dancing and drinking, lost in a sea of moving bodies and flashing lights. The mood inside the club was electric, and it was obvious that most everyone they met was enjoying some sort of mood-enhancing substance, most likely compliments of Danny.

Lacey spotted him in a booth near the bar, surrounded by Jo and some of his other friends. The carefree smile on his face made her heart melt, but her happiness was short-lived as she heard Regina whisper in her ear, "_Watch this, Porter – I'll show you how it's done_," before sauntering over to his table. She watched as instructed as Regina edged her way into their booth, somehow managing to situate herself right next to him. She leaned over to him seductively, whispering something in his ear that made him laugh while she ran her hands through his hair. Lacey was livid, but she resolved to maintain her composure as she went to the bar for a drink.

She ordered an amaretto sour and turned back around to survey the dance floor as she waited on her drink. One of the perks of VIP access was that she didn't have to sport the big black X's on the backs of her hands like the rest of the under-21 crowd, which meant Mya didn't ask any questions when she asked for a drink. Lacey paid the bartender, tipping her a couple of dollars because she was always cool to her about the drinks. She stood there sipping her cocktail and enjoying the tingling sensation the alcohol gave her. "_Mya was pretty heavy on the liquor tonight_," she thought to herself as she felt the pleasant warmth spread across her face. She knew it wasn't enough though; she would need more than one drink if she was going to get through an entire night watching Regina fawn all over Danny.

"Someone's got your attention tonight," a familiar voice said, walking up behind Lacey. She turned to see Jo there, a fresh beer in her hand.

"Hey Jo - long time. How's it going?"

"Yeah, it's been awhile. I'm good Lacey, how are you?"

Lacey smiled at the blonde, responding, "Oh, you know – it goes. What have you been up to?"

The pair made small talk for a while, catching up on the important things. Then Jo, ever the direct one, asked Lacey, "So how long are you going to let her do that before you go get him?"

Lacey was caught off guard by Jo's bluntness, but she shrugged her shoulders. "It's kind of complicated, Jo. I mean, I don't even know where Danny's head is, and Regina's just being… Regina. What if I go over there and he blows me off?"

"You wait much longer your friend is going to be the one blowing him tonight," Jo said, laughing as she saw Lacey's shocked expression. "God, I'm just kidding Lacey – he isn't interested in that whore, he's just trying to make you mad. And clearly it's working, so can you two stop playing this little game and just get back together already?"

"I can't just walk over there and tell her to move, Jo," Lacey said, recovering from her shock and laughing along with the girl. "Don't you know who I am? I've got to come better than that."

"Yeah, well, whatever you do, just make sure you do it soon – I'm sick of her taking up space at our booth. Her thirstiness is getting on my nerves."

Lacey laughed, watching as Danny glanced over at them, Regina completely unaware that he wasn't paying any attention to her at all.

"Oh yeah, one more thing Lacey. Make sure you don't fuck it up this time, because if you hurt him again I'm going to have to hurt you, and believe it or not I actually like you. I don't want to have to do that – so don't force my hand, okay?"

Lacey smiled – she'd always liked Jo. "I hear you loud and clear, Jo. Believe me, I won't be making that mistake again."

"Good to know – now get over there and get her off him. I'm going to find some sanitizer for that seat."

Just as Lacey finished her drink and got ready to walk over to the booth, she suddenly got a better idea. She went to the DJ booth and made a request – it was a favorite song of hers, and one that was sure to get his attention. A few minutes later she was on the dance floor with Phoebe and Sarita as the familiar clapping beat of Rihanna's "Birthday Cake" came through the speakers. She caught Danny's eye and held his gaze, mouthing "Come and put your name on it" along with the song as she beckoned him to her. Not needing to be told twice, he got up from the table and joined her, leaving Regina at the table staring after him.

They didn't speak as she danced for him, swinging her hips to the music and reminding him of how good her rhythm was. She smiled as she ground her ass into him, satisfied with the hardness she felt press against her through his jeans. She gave him her best moves, putting on a private show just for him right there on the dance floor. He followed her every move, riveted. He knew before the song ended that he was through making her (and himself) suffer – he wanted her too much to keep doing the hard to get thing.

A circle formed around them as others stopped their dancing to watch the two of them, but neither even seemed to notice, too focused on each other. When the song came to an end they heard applause from the other party-goers before they all went back to their own dancing and drinking. Danny held her gaze for a long moment, before leaning down to whisper to her, "You ready to get out of here yet?"

She smiled sexily at him, breathlessly replying, "I thought you'd never ask."


	8. No Place Like You

**AN – So I tried to write a chap from my other fic and just wound up getting frustrated. This Dacey is just much more fun for me. **** For those of you who are following, I do plan on updating Save Tonight by the end of the weekend, so just bear with me – I'm working on finding some inspiration for that. I seem to have plenty of inspra for this story though, so I thought I'd share.**

**By the way – WARNING: Smut ahead. Like, nearly an entire chapter of it. Seriously, not much else happens here (they've spent months apart you guys, they have a lot of lost time to make up for). If you aren't into that, I would suggest not reading at least the first two thirds… there is some actual conversation and relationship-building at the end. Skip down to the line break for that – everyone else, you're welcome.**

* * *

**No Place Like You**

The couple made their way back to Danny's place in a hormone induced haze, stolen glances and wandering hands comprising most of the car ride to his apartment. They stumbled up the stairs, groping each other's bodies and barely making it through the door before shedding their clothes. Danny crashed his lips into Lacey, picking her up as he opened the lock and carried her across the threshold. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck as he clumsily led them through the living area. Finally making it to the bedroom, he laid her down gently, pulling away from their frenzied kissing long enough to look at her. He was enamored at the sight of her beneath him, taking in each of her features. Her hair was mussed and her lips swollen from their frantic kissing, and her eyes were clear and bright. He watched as she brought her see-through blouse up over her head, biting her bottom lip seductively as she bared her body her him. She then ran her hands over herself, lightly squeezing her breasts and tracing small circles on her toned stomach. He groaned to himself as he watched her, wondering if she was designed specifically to drive him crazy.

There was a mischievous glint in her eyes as she reached for his belt, deftly loosening it and unbuttoning his pants. She pulled him down on top of her, kissing him hard before using her body as leverage to turn him over on the bed. Now that she was on top, she commenced kissing him, occasionally nipping at his lips and throat with her teeth. She pulled him into a sitting position briefly to remove his shirt, while he slid his shoes off. Satisfied that his upper half was now free of any clothing, she set about covering his chest and abdomen with kisses, repeating her ministrations from his neck. She worked her way down his body, pausing momentarily to tease his belly button with her tongue before working her way even lower. She reached his pants, hooking her fingers through the waistband of his boxers and pulling both off at the same time. He leaned up on his elbows watching as she marveled at the erect member standing at attention in front of her.

"Hello there old friend," she whispered, noting with satisfaction that the throbbing penis jumped slightly as she addressed it. She wrapped one of her hands around the base of his shaft and began lightly stroking, pleased with the satisfying hiss that escaped his lips at her touch. "I've missed you – have you missed me?" she asked, continuing her conversation, running her fingers lightly over his engorged tip and looking up at him to watch for his reaction. Danny closed his eyes momentarily, opening them again just in time to see her lean her head in and take him into her mouth, her eyes never breaking contact with his.

He dropped his head back, overwhelmed by the amazing feeling of her hot, wet mouth surrounding his dick. He fought to maintain his composure, his hands gripping the sheets beneath him as she worked more and more of him into her mouth, his head already lightly hitting the back of her throat. He had to consciously remind himself not to thrust into her face as she worked to bring him to orgasm. He resisted the building in his stomach as she broke away for a moment, her tongue making long strokes up and down his shaft, teasing at his balls before going back to the head. She could sense that he was beginning to lose control and it made her all the more determined to make him come for her. She redoubled her efforts, taking as much of him as she could into her mouth and covering the rest of his length with her hand, working him up and down over and over again. Finally, she felt him begin to twitch between her lips as he let another loud groan, moaning her name in a way that only served to make her already dripping wet core even hotter for him. He released into her, several long sprays of his seed filling her mouth, so much that some spilled out at the corners. Satisfied that she'd pleased him, she wiped her lips and climbed back up to where he was, kissing him soundly.

Danny was so turned on by the taste of him on her lips that he immediately felt himself getting hard again. He rolled over onto his side, cradling her in his arms and laying her down on the bed. He peeled away the skin-tight leggings she was wearing, pausing for a moment to appreciate the black lace thong she was wearing underneath. He cupped her mound, feeling the heat and wetness of her through the thin panties. He smiled to himself as he teased her lightly with his fingers, her long legs opening for him automatically. He watched as her face contorted with want as he slid the fabric to the side, tracing the line of her slit with two fingers, alternating between putting pressure on her clit and entrance, but not staying long enough on either for her to get any real satisfaction. She let out a low whine and squeezed her thighs together, her body begging him to give her more.

"Danny, please…" she breathed out, closing her eyes and squeezing again.

"What do you want, Lacey?" he said, very much enjoying the sight of her writhing beneath his touch.

"Need… more… you… inside me…" she'd stopped forming coherent sentences in her elevated state, much to his satisfaction.

"Okay baby," he said, stroking himself to full hardness. "Touch yourself for me."

She complied, unhooking her bra and removing it easily. Danny watched as she pulled and pinched her ripe nipples, causing them to harden almost immediately. She also allowed her hands to float lower, and he stood at rapt attention as her long fingers breached her folds. She stroked her clit lightly, looking at him as she did so. He always loved it when she put on a show for him, and tonight was no exception. Finally deciding he'd denied himself long enough, he reached over to the nightstand, grabbing a little gold packet and ripping it open. He rolled the condom down his shaft quickly and moved to line himself up with her. He entered her slowly, allowing them both a moment to re-adjust to the feeling of one another before burying himself to the hilt. He saw stars as her walls tightened in on him – he'd nearly forgotten how good she felt to him. He stroked slowly and deliberately, fucking her thoroughly. She responded by wrapping her legs around him, pulling him as close to her as possible and whispering "_Iloveyous_" and "_GodImissedyous_" over and over in quick succession. She threaded her hands through his long hair and brought his face down to her for another kiss, biting his lip harder than she'd meant to as he hit _that_ spot.

Her words changed from "_iloveyou_" to "_ohshitjustlikethatharderplease_" as he continued to work her over. He felt her climax coming as her walls began quivering and squeezing him, making her already tight pussy feel that much tighter. He watched as her face contorted into a look that was pure pleasure, and her legs began shaking around him, pulling him in even more. The sight of her orgasm was enough to bring him to his own, and he buried his head into her neck as he finished for a second time.

* * *

Lacey didn't go home that night, opting instead to stay in the apartment with him. They made love several more times that night, alternating between resting and sexing until very early in the morning. When they finally decided to rest it was nearly dawn, and she remembered falling into a peaceful sleep just as she saw the first rays of the sun coming up over downtown.

Lacey woke several hours later, the shadows from the sun indicating to her that it was early afternoon. She smiled as she felt Danny sleeping next to her, his arm hooked over her middle and his face buried in her hair. She carefully untangled herself from him and got out of the bed, heading to the kitchen. He joined her shortly thereafter, groggily wiping away the signs of sleep as he entered the room. He stood for a moment, staring at her in appreciation. She'd stolen a pair of his sweats and a wife beater, pulling her hair up into a messy bun as she prepared lunch for them. How she managed to always look so good was beyond him, and he could feel himself getting aroused again thinking about how sexy she was wearing his clothes.

As if on cue, she looked up at him and shook her head. "Nuh uh-no sir. You and I both need to refuel before you start any of that… you took a lot out of me last night."

He smiled lazily, walking over to her and giving her a light kiss. "Good morning to you, too dear."

"Try again, Romeo," she said, plating their food, "It's almost 3:00!"

They ate at the bar in comfortable silence, stealing glances and smiling at each other like the giddy teens that they were.

"So," Danny started, hating to break their good moods, but needing to clear the air on a few things. "Does this mean that we're together again, or is this just going to be a passing thing?"

"Well," she said, swallowing her food, "what do you want it to be?"

"Don't do that to me, Lace," he said, fighting to keep the frustration from showing in his voice. "Don't evade my questions – please just be honest with me. You already know what I want – the question here is what do you want? What are you willing to give?"

"Danny," she said, putting down her plate and taking his hands. "Look at me will you? I meant what I said the other day – I want us to be us. I miss you and I want this to work between us. No more secrets, no more games, no more hiding… I'm here for this, for us, 100%. I'm all in – if you still want that."

"Of course I still want that, Lace," he said, his eyes not moving from hers. "God – don't you know how crazy I am about you? You've had my heart all along, but if we're going to do this, a few things are going to have to be different this time around." He waited for her reaction, continuing when she motioned her hands for him to elaborate. "First, I don't want to be your secret anymore – ever."

"Didn't I just say that?" she started, but he shushed her, going on. "I'm serious. I don't just mean at school either. I want to be a real part of your life, I want to meet your mom and Clara and take you out on dates and have you over for Thanksgiving or whatever normal couples do."

She laughed after that last part. "As if we could ever be a normal couple, Danny… but yeah, I'm good with that. You can meet Clara and take me on dates, and even come over for Thanksgiving. I might even let you meet my mom if I ever decide to talk to her again. Anything else on your list?"

"Just one more," he said, more nervous about this request than the first one. "No more getting high. We've got to work on finding a more constructive outlet for you than alcohol or pills. I don't want to risk losing you again, like I almost did last year."

Lacey was tempted to be irritated at this second (and in her mind completely unnecessary) request, but the sincerity in his tone softened her. "Danny, as long as I have you, I don't have a need to get high. Besides, I can count on one hand the number of times I've done anything since last spring. Trust me, I remember that all too well – I do not want to go through that again either."

"Good," he said, relieved at her agreeableness. He kissed her on top of the head as he rose to clear their plates. "Now that that's all settled, what do you want to do for the rest of the day?"


	9. Something Wicked This Way Comes

**AN – Thank you guys for the awesome response to this story thus far, especially the last few chapters. I'm going to try to post this chap and one more tonight. **

**Also, wanted to give a little extra info here because I don't think I mentioned it anywhere else and it doesn't make sense to try and work it into the storyline now. **

**Danny lives on his own in this apartment. In my mind, Vikram did die, but he wasn't involved in anything illegal so Karen and Danny are very financially well-off. Karen and Danny don't have a good relationship, so he chooses to live apart from her… just in case anyone was wondering how an 18 year old high school senior had so much alone time with his girlfriend… lol**

* * *

**Something Wicked This Way Comes**

Things between Lacey and Danny were good after that. They fell into the reassuring comfort of their relationship and grew closer together as the months went by. Thanksgiving came and went, as did Christmas and New Year's, with Danny celebrating each holiday with her just as he'd wanted. Lacey managed to come to a truce with Judy, still refusing to talk to her about the pictures, but allowing her back into her life to some small degree. They couple spent nearly all of their time together, and Lacey had all but moved in to Danny's condo, spending more nights there than she did at home. For awhile, everything seemed perfect between them…

But Danny noticed that Lacey began pulling away from him bit by bit. It didn't happen all at once, just small things he noticed each day. She seemed withdrawn, shying away from his kiss and touch. When he tried to talk to her about it, she got angry and defensive, lashing out with malice. Danny suspected he knew the cause of her dramatic change in behavior, but he hesitated as long as possible to address it, hoping that he was wrong. One afternoon after school, however, his worst fears were confirmed. He saw her in a shady corner of the parking lot, having an intense conversation with Cole Farrell. Cole, Danny knew, was in the same business as he was, and the other boy worked regularly to poach customers from Danny. Danny knew if Lacey was talking to him, it could only be about one thing – she was buying from him.

He ran his hands through his hair nervously, trying to decide what to do. He knew he needed to confront her, but he also knew that she would either lie or deflect attention from herself in an effort to distract him. He decided to call Jo in, knowing that she would have a harder time walking around the subject with both of them there.

When Lacey walked into the apartment that afternoon she was immediately greeted by the sight of Danny and Jo both sitting on the sofa. At first nothing seemed amiss, and she walked to the couch, sitting in Danny's lap and giving him a light kiss. She couldn't contain the smile on her face – she'd been keeping a secret from him for the last few weeks, afraid to tell him until she knew for sure, and now that she did she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She didn't realize that her sudden change in demeanor from sullen to elated seemed to communicate something else entirely to the other two.

"Hey babe, hey Jo – what are you guys up to?" she asked, settling in.

"Lace, sit over there for a minute please – I need to talk to you about something," Danny said, lifting her gently off his lap and moving her to the chair across from them. Concern and confusion flashed across Lacey's face as she took in his somber expression, but she did as she was told.

"Lace," Danny started, "You know I love you and I would do just about anything for you, right?" (Already she could tell she wasn't going to like where this was going, but she stayed quiet, letting him finish.) "Lately you've been acting… not yourself. I need you to be honest with me when I ask you this – have you been using?"

Lacey laughed out loud as she looked back and forth between the two of them. "Are you serious, Danny? Of course not! What are you even talking about?"

"Don't lie to me Lacey," he said, looking her in the eye. "You've been distant and withdrawn these last few weeks, and your mood swings are so drastic that I never know from one moment to the next which Lacey I'm going to be talking to. And, I saw you and Cole talking in the parking lot earlier."

"So let me get this straight – you think that because I've been a little more moody than usual and you happened to see me having one conversation with someone who just so happens to sell drugs that I'm suddenly using? News flash Danny: my boyfriend sells drug, too. If I wanted to get high that bad, I could have just skimmed some off the stash you keep hidden away in that other room. It would be much more cost effective."

He opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off, "Oh what? You thought I didn't know what was in there? I practically live here with you, and it isn't like your little hobby dealing recreational pharmaceuticals is a secret, right? My talking to Cole today had absolutely nothing to do with either of your little illicit businesses – I don't give a shit about that one way or the other. And you want to know why I've been in a weird mood lately? It's because my period is 16 days late – I was afraid I was pregnant."

Danny looked dumbfounded, not sure what to say. "_Pregnant_?" he thought nervously, "_that never even crossed my mind. What the hell are we going to do with a baby_?"

Irritated by his lack of response, she told him, "You can stop looking like you're going to vomit, Danny. I went to the doctor this afternoon – we're good."

"Thank God" he thought, sighing in relief. It wasn't until he saw the incredulous looks on both girls' faces that he realized he'd said it aloud.

"Lacey, baby," he said, reaching for her hands and scrambling for something – anything – he could say to make it better, but she was already pulling away from him. "Wait baby, that isn't what I meant – I'm sorry."

"No, Danny, you said exactly what you meant. First you sit me down for this ridiculous intervention for a problem that I **DON'T EVEN HAVE**, then you go and say some insensitive shit like that when I finally tell you what's been on my mind. This is exactly why I didn't tell you earlier – I already knew what your reaction was going to be!"

He listened to her rant, cutting in as she stopped momentarily to take a breath. "Lacey, look, I'm sorry, but you need to stop blowing everything out of proportion. I shouldn't have said that, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy that you aren't pregnant. I mean, I love you and everything, and I'd like to have a family with you someday down the road, but come on Lace. You and I both know we aren't ready for kids. "

"Whatever Danny, that isn't even the point. The point is, not only don't you trust me, but you also clearly could care less about my feelings. You're too busy over there gloating about dodging the baby bullet! But you know what? It's cool – I'm glad I know where I stand with you now. I think I need some space – I'm going to go home for a few days."

With that she got up to leave, ignoring his subsequent attempts to change her mind. Once she was out the door he turned to Jo who, up until now, he'd all but forgotten was still in the room. "That went well," was all the acerbic blonde had to say as he sunk down onto the couch, burying his face in his hands.

"What the hell just happened?" he mumbled from beneath the curtain of jet black hair that had fallen forward around him.

"Well," Jo started, "basically you just accused your girlfriend of using drugs because she's been acting a little weird lately, and when she told you what was actually wrong, instead of being the kind, supportive boyfriend you are 99.9% of the time, you decided to be a jackass and say what was possibly the most inconsiderate thing in the world to her at the time. I mean, really Danny? '_Thank God_'? Not, '_OMG Lace, are you okay_?' or '_I'm so sorry you've been going through that on your own baby, I'm here for you_...'"

"That isn't what I meant," he snapped, glaring at Jo.

"What you meant is irrelevant at this point, Danny," she said, "All that matters is what she heard, and what she heard you say made her feel like shit. So, my advice to you would be that you give her a few days to cool off. She may be batshit crazy, but she also loves you – she'll come around sooner or later. In the meantime though, I would suggest coming up with some sort of awesome plan to get back in her good graces – you know, unless you just like being in the dog house."

* * *

Danny spent the next few days a nervous wreck – Lacey all but refused to talk to him, not answering his phone calls and only returning texts intermittently with innocuous responses like "_I'm fine_" or "_I'll call you when I feel like talking_". He knew he'd screwed up pretty badly, but he was following Jo's advice. He'd come up with the perfect date night, and was now only waiting for the weekend to take her out. He didn't really want to suffer through two more days without her, but knowing she'd be back and happy by Friday made the time in the interim slightly more bearable.

In the meantime, Danny had his business to keep him busy. He'd built a thriving enterprise over the last two years since his father had died, and his client base was only growing as more time passed. He didn't do it for the money – his father had left him more than enough to afford an extremely comfortable lifestyle for the rest of his life. It wasn't even that he was particularly interested in the drugs – they were just a means to an end. No, what Danny got off on was the vulnerability that his clients displayed when under the influence of his special brand of narcotics. Each item in Danny's product line was laced with an extra ingredient, undetectable to any test, but extremely potent in its ability to release his customers from their inhibitions. The chemical, which Danny fondly referred to as his "truth serum" had originally been added as an additional psychedelic stimulant, but he'd soon realized that it had an interesting side effect – it made people spill all of their secrets. The chemist that Danny used to cultivate his product hypothesized that the compound worked by suppressing the neurological receptors that act as a filter between the brain and mouth, and that suppression coupled with the complete euphoria provided by the stimulant made people feel at ease enough to tell their secrets, often without ever realizing it. He'd offered to remove it from the drugs in exchange for something else, but Danny preferred to leave it in. Secrets were kept for a reason, and the ones that he'd learned as a result of his "truth serum" provided him with the kind of insurance that most people in his line of work simply couldn't come by.

Unfortunately, Danny had heard reports that Cole was snooping around his clients trying to figure out what the secret to Danny's success was. Although he was confident that Cole would never be able to obtain product that was at his level, the fact that he kept trying pissed Danny off. This afternoon, he was sitting in his favorite coffee shop downtown, handling a few things on the accounting side of his business. He'd just finished a heated conversation with one of his contacts who had another irritating report about Cole stealing away two of his clients with the promise of better, cheaper product. Although he knew Cole's claims were bullshit and that the customers would be back when they realized that what they were getting was inferior, it still got under his skin that the other man was making so much trouble. "_I need to have him handled_," Danny thought idly to himself, noting in dismay that his profits were down this month because of Cole's poaching.

Frustrated by the numbers in front of him, Danny closed his laptop just as someone sat down in front of him. "_Great – just what I need right now_," he thought sarcastically as he looked at Regina Crane's smiling face.

"Hey Danny," she said in what he was sure was intended to be a sexy tone, although she'd missed the mark completely.

"Umm… hey Regina – can I help you with something?" he asked, clearly perturbed by her presence.

"I just saw you sitting here and thought I'd come over and say hello. It's been awhile since I've talked to you… I missed you," she said, still talking in the breathy tone.

"Missed me?" he snorted, "How could you possibly miss me? We don't even know each other like that."

"Well, I'd like to get to know you like that," she said, reaching across the table for his hand as he packed away his laptop. He jerked away from her, avoiding her touch, and stood up to go.

"Yeah, I don't think that would be such a good idea," he said, readying himself to leave. "I don't think my girlfriend would be too keen on that idea – you know my girlfriend, right? Lacey Porter – tall, sexy, long hair, used to be a friend of yours?"

"Of course I know Lacey," Regina said, following him out the door and onto the sidewalk. "She's only been my best friend since we were ten. But I also know what a prude she can be – she never put out for Archie and I'll bet she's not giving you any, either. I'm sure you've got a lot of pent up frustration – you should let me help you with that."

"Not interested, Regina," Danny said, growing more agitated by her presence every minute. "I'm well taken care of in that department."

"What happened to the hot stud I was so into at the beginning of the year? Is her pussy really that good that she's got you whipped like that? Because I can assure you," she says, pausing to run her hands over the front of his pants in emphasis, "whatever she's doing for you I can do so much better."

Danny stiffened immediately at her touch, grabbing her wrist with one hand and her throat with the other, pushing her roughly into the brick wall behind them. He held her firmly in place, allowing her no movement as he ground out his words, "Get this through your head, Regina. I. Don't. Want. You. Lacey or no Lacey, you're of absolutely no interest to me. And don't compare yourself to her, either. You may be more experienced, but she's special to me partly because she _hasn't_ been with every guy I know. She's like a fine wine, rare and unique, something you only have on special occasions, and something everyone can't afford. You on the other hand? You're like beer in a keg, cheap and easily accessible to anyone who wants to get wasted. Unfortunately for you, I've never been much of a beer drinker."

He released her hands and walked away, never even sparing a look back in her direction as he headed off to wherever he was going next. Regina stayed against the wall for a few minutes, gasping and trying to regain her composure. She'd heard of but never seen that side of Danny, and she didn't appreciate being on the receiving end of his aggression. She also felt embarrassed and angry at his constant rebuffs. In her mind she was just as good as Lacey, and the fact that he was so cold in his rejection wasn't something she would take lightly.

"You're going to regret that, Danny Desai," she though, rubbing her hands along her now sore throat as a plan formed in her head.


	10. Liar, Liar

**AN – Everybody relax – Dacey is not on the outs… not too bad anyway. They just both have volatile personalities, so things get a little heated with them sometimes. They'll be making up soon, though. **

**Also, I'm lol-ing about you guys wanting Regina dead. She'll be taken care of all in good time, my pretties.**

**Here's your next chap, and then I'm not updating again until I come up with something for Save Tonight, which should be by tonight. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Liar, Liar**

Lacey spent the next few days wallowing in her feelings. She was upset with Danny for his callous reaction to her, but more than that she was overwhelmed by the idea that she might have been pregnant. She'd visited the doctor after waiting anxiously for two weeks for her period to appear. She'd endured an uncomfortable exam and an even more uncomfortable conversation with her gynecologist about whether or not she and Danny consistently used protection and whether she took her pills as directed. Her doctor concluded that her missing period was simply a fluke, and that there wasn't anything wrong with her, but she also suggested that they switch Lacey from the pill to depo-provera shots which would be more reliable in avoiding future pregnancy scares.

As Lacey processed what had happened, she allowed herself to imagine briefly what it would be like to actually be pregnant. She knew rationally that Danny would be there for her, and she tried to imagine what it would be like to have a child with him. She saw a little boy with curly black hair and cinnamon skin and a smile just like his dad's toddling around the apartment, amazed as he shuffled between them. She saw his toothy little grin and his chubby fingers and she was instantly in love with this apparition in her head. Although she was relieved that she wasn't becoming a mommy any time soon, she realized that motherhood might actually be something she wanted at some point… maybe.

Her phone buzzed, indicating that she had received yet another text from Danny.

"_Just wanted to tell you I love you_."

She smiled to herself, amused at his transparent attempt to get back in her good graces. Deciding that she missed him more than she was mad at him, she texted him back "_I love you, too – come see me?"_

Almost instantly he responded, "_In the middle of something – sorry. Have dinner with me tonight?_"

Slightly disappointed, she texted him back that she would and he followed up with details. Since she'd already made the executive decision that she wasn't going to bother with school today, she reached out to another friend she'd been giving the cold shoulder to this week.

Jo arrived at Lacey's about twenty minutes later, and the girls spent the rest of the afternoon watching cheesy B movies on the couch in her living room. Lacey hadn't had a lot of bonding time with a girlfriend since she and Danny had started dating. Regina had all but stopped talking to her after she lost out on their "competition" and Phoebe, ever the follower, had sided with Regina. Sarita was the only one that remained friends with Lacey, but lately she seemed to be dealing with some things of her own that she didn't want to share. Lacey just did her best to give Sarita her space, making sure that the girl knew she was there for her if/when she felt like talking about it.

"So are you and Danny through with the fighting this week?" Jo said, stuffing a handful of popcorn in her mouth as Lacey changed out the movies.

"Yeah, I'm tired of being mad at him, so I guess we're going out tonight." Lacey said, hitting play and watching as the beginning credits for "She's All That" came on screen.

"Good – Danny is no fun when you're not around. He turns into some sort of emo dope that, I have to tell you, does absolutely nothing for his badass persona."

Lacey laughed, imagining an emo Danny. "Yeah well, I'm not that great without him either, so I get what you mean. We'll be fine – but what about you, Jo? When are you going to get a girlfriend so I can rag you the way you rag me about him?"

Jo blushed, looking down, "I don't know – I guess whenever I find someone I'm into like that."

"Oh whatever, Jo," Lacey said, "there are tons of hot girls around here – yourself included. I'm sure you wouldn't have any trouble snagging one or two or a few – what are you waiting on?"

"I talk to a few different people," Jo said, slightly defensive, "it's just… I don't know. There's one girl in particular that I'm interested in, but the vibes I get from her kinda make me feel like she's waiting on someone else."

"Well then you need to do whatever it takes to get her mind off that 'someone else' and onto you. Do you even realize what a prize you are? You're Jo mf'n Masterson, woman! Any girl would be crazy not to be into you."

* * *

After Jo left, Lacey got ready for her date with Danny. He hadn't told her what he had planned for the evening, he'd just said that she would enjoy it. She stood at her closet, going back and forth on what she should wear. She wanted to be sexy for him, but she also wanted to be practical. In the end she decided on a skater-style LBD that gathered high around her neck and had large cutouts in the back. She wore her hair in a messy high bun, with tendrils escaping here and there, and chose a pair of high-heeled tuxedo pumps to complete the look.

She went to his apartment to meet him at 8:00 pm, just as he'd asked. When she arrived, she knocked on the door before letting herself in. She was confused to find that the apartment was empty, though. She saw a large vase sitting on the coffee table, full of beautiful red tiger roses and a card with her name on it. She opened the card, smiling at the inscription inside.

"_All the stars in the sky cannot compare to the beauty of your smile_."

She looked around again, noticing this time the parade of arrows on the floor, pointing her in the direction of the stairs that she knew led to the roof. She climbed them slowly, relishing with anticipation what she would find once she reached the top.

Lacey walked out onto the roof of Danny's building and immediately felt her breath catch as she saw the surprise he'd planned for her. The entire roof was alight with tiny clear fairy lights, so much that it appeared they were standing in the middle of the stars themselves. She saw him standing on the far end of the area, and immediately made her way over to him, smiling the entire way.

"Hi," she said timidly, unable to control the grin that spread across her face.

"Hey beautiful," he said, pulling her in for a hug and kiss. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," she replied, nuzzling into his chest and relishing the feel of him for a few more minutes. "This is beautiful, Danny. How in the world did you come up with this?"

He smiled and shrugged noncommittally. "Well, you know – I've had a few days to myself to think about things, and I figured I should put them to good use. Lace, I'm sorry for how I reacted to what you said the other day," he said, his voice suddenly serious, "I don't ever want you to think that you aren't important to me or that I don't care about your feelings. I was just afraid that something else was going on when you weren't talking to me… I'm sorry."

She smiled wistfully, placing a small kiss on his lips before responding, "It's okay baby - I'm over it. I overreacted and should have given you a chance to explain, but I was too high strung and caught up in my feelings. Besides, it isn't like I wanted to be pregnant – not now anyway. I kind of like having you to myself…" Her words trailed off and Danny could feel himself stirring at the suggestive tone in her voice. He hadn't touched or kissed her in almost a week and it was driving him crazy. He realized with satisfaction that she must've been thinking the same thing as he watched the familiar warmth spread across her face as he leaned in to kiss her again, this time more gingerly, before leading her over to show her the rest of the surprise he'd come up with for her.

Behind them was a picnic arranged around a fire pit. The fire had already been lit, and the heat from the flames was just enough to keep them warm without being overwhelming on this cool spring night. They spread out on the blanket, laughing and talking about any and everything, occasionally feeding themselves (and each other) from the wide variety of gourmet foods Danny'd selected for the evening.

When it was time for dessert, Danny brought out a special selection of champagne soaked strawberries, feeding them to her one by one. His eyes became heavily lidded as he took in the sight of her plump lips closing around each berry, occasionally grazing them with the tips of his fingers. Finally his excitement for the best of him and he pulled the last strawberry away from her, throwing it to the side and replacing it with his lips on her mouth instead. He laid her back slowly, kissing down her neck as he unzipped her dress. He reached beneath the skirt of the garment, satisfied with the wetness he found there.

"Someone missed me a lot, huh?" he whispered huskily, teasing at her folds and enjoying the way her thighs squeezed against him in response. He kissed her again, exploring her mouth with his tongue and getting lost in the feeling. They were so caught up in each other that they didn't notice the footsteps that approached them from across the roof.

"Danny Desai?" the officer said, shining his flashlight into the flustered faces of the teens. "Step away from the girl, son. I need you to come with me."

Danny sat up immediately, squinting into the light from the officer, a confused look on his face. He stood, helping Lacey up as well, both righting their clothes in an effort to preserve some modesty. He was confused and irritated about being interrupted, but he figured it was best to keep a cool head as he addressed the officer.

"What is this about, sir?" he said, stepping in front of Lacey slightly as he noticed that additional officers had convened on the roof as well.

"I've got a warrant for your arrest, so please just cooperate. I'm going to need you to step away from the girl, okay?" The officer looked over Danny's shoulder at the now terrified Lacey. "Miss, you can go stand with the other officers. I promise we won't let him hurt you."

"Hurt me?" Lacey said, her voice cracking in confusion as one of the other officers approached, gently pulling her away from Danny. "He wasn't hurting me, he would never hurt me. He's my boyfriend. What's going on here?"

"Danny Desai, you're under arrest for the rape of Regina Crane," the officer said, pulling Danny's hands together into handcuffs behind him. "You have the right to remain silent…"

Lacey felt her blood run cold as she listened to what the officer was saying. "_Rape_?" she thought, "_Regina? Danny would never… what the fuck is going on here?_" She could tell by the stricken look on his face that Danny also had no idea what was going on, but he put up no resistance as the officers carried him away.

"Danny!" she screamed, breaking away from the policeman that was "guarding" her and standing in front of him.

"Lace, Lace, listen to me," Danny said in a calm voice. "Don't say anything to anyone. Call Jo and tell her what happened – she will know what to do." It killed him to see the tears that streamed down Lacey's face as he took in her terrified expression. "Baby, it's going to be okay – you know I didn't do this. Just go back to the apartment and call Jo – I love you."

Lacey looked on heartbroken as she watched the officers carry him away. She followed them down the stairs and out of the building, trying in vain to get someone to stop this madness. It wasn't until she saw them put him in the back of the cruiser and drive away that she finally went back to the apartment. Her hands were shaking as she tried to wrap her mind around what had just happened. She called Jo as Danny had instructed, briefly telling her the situation. As she waited for the other girl to get to the apartment, she looked again at the beautiful vase of flowers in front of her, and she saw red. She picked up the crystal vase, smashing it into the wall ahead of her as she allowed the rage she was feeling to course through her. She had a sudden inexplicable need to break things, and she went around the apartment doing just that as she tried desperately to get some of the pain and anger coursing through her to dissipate.

When Jo walked through the apartment door twenty minutes later, she found Lacey in the kitchen, piles of broken dishes at her feet. Jo expected her to still be upset, but instead she was unnerved by Lacey's eerily calm demeanor.

"Hey," Lacey said as the other girl came into view.

"Umm… hey," Jo said, walking toward Lacey with slow, deliberate steps, not wanting to make any sudden movements around her.

"They came and got Danny," Lacey said, her voice monotone. "Regina's accused him of rape, so we need to figure out how to get him out of jail."

"Yeah, okay," Jo said, concerned for the friend in front of her. "I know where he keeps his emergency stash, there should be more than enough money there to bail him out. Hey Lacey, are you okay?"

Lacey nodded her head, staring off into space in Jo's general direction, "Yeah, I'm good. I should probably clean up this mess, huh?" she said, looking at Jo for the first time.

"Yeah, we can do that – I'll help you," Jo said, turning to grab the broom. When she turned back around, Lacey was still standing in the same spot, but her eyes were no longer unfocused. A chill went down Jo's spine as Lacey finally looked right at her, and she could see that her pupils were entirely dilated, giving them a scary quality as the blackness of her pupils complete swallowed the warm chocolate brown of her irises. As the girls worked together to clear away all the broken glass in the apartment, Jo couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't the mess Lacey had been referring to at all.


	11. You Bitch

**You Bitch**

After an hour of cleaning all the broken dishes and returning the apartment to some semblance of normalcy, Lacey and Jo headed down to the police department, cash in tow, to bail Danny out of jail. Upon arrival, they were disappointed to find that, although they could go ahead and post the money for his bond, he would not be released for another 36 hours. This, it was explained to them, was due to the severity of the crime for which he was accused, but they both knew better. They were holding him at the request of Gloria Crane, Regina's mother. Gloria was a powerful member of the city council, and she was known to be ruthless in her dealings with all other city officials – the police commissioner simply did not want to be on her bad side this close to the next election date.

Lacey asked Jo to post Danny's bail money anyway, and left her with specific instructions to meet her at his apartment the following evening.

"Lacey, why don't you just stay with me until we can get him out of here," Jo protested, still concerned about her friend's strange emotional state.

"No Jo, there are a few things that I need to go take care of, and it's probably best if I do this on my own. Don't worry about me though – I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself." Lacey smiled at Jo in what would have been a reassuring manner, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Still Jo figured it best to let Lacey go and hope to God she didn't do anything she would regret later on.

* * *

Lacey left the police station and headed out onto the interstate, a plan already forming in her head. There were a couple of stops she needed to make, but she figured she probably ought to go ahead and get the first one out of the way.

She arrived at Regina's house a few minutes later, satisfied to see that Regina's car was the only one there. She knocked on the door lightly before letting herself in with the key that Lupita (the housekeeper) always left under the urn on the porch.

"Reg?" she called lightly, making her way up the stairs. She heard laughter and Regina's voice coming from the girl's bedroom, and she stopped on the stairs to listen to her conversation.

"Yeah, and it was just that easy," the redhead cackled, clearly talking to someone on the phone. "I just told mom the story, and she took me immediately down to the police station to press charges. She didn't even ask when or how… she was too horrified that something like that could have happened to her 'precious baby'!"

A few seconds went by as Lacey supposed the person on the other line responded to what Regina had said, and then she continued, "Will you relax already? No one is ever going to find out the truth, as long as you keep your mouth shut. I've planned this all out perfectly – Lacey is never going to know what hit her."

Another pause and then, "Yeah, my eye is going down. That was a nice touch with the grapefruit – didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would either. The jump rope on my neck though? Those burns are going to take a few days to heal up. But it'll all be worth it to see that asshole go to jail. I can't wait to see their faces at school on Monday – this is going to be epic!"

Lacey listened a few minutes longer, sneaking back down the stairs and creeping out of the house when she realized there was no more information to be gotten from continued eavesdropping. She got back into her car, swallowing down her anger and willing herself to think rationally. She knew that she couldn't become too emotional if she were going to take on Regina – Regina's volatile emotions were her biggest weakness, but Lacey could only exploit that if she kept a cool hold on her own. She mentally collected herself, cataloging the new information into her head and reformatting her plan just a bit. Regina didn't know it, but she'd just given Lacey the very thing she needed to take her down – now all she needed to do was figure out who the person on the other end of the phone was.

* * *

Lacey decided her best chance of figuring out who that other person was would be to talk to the one contact she had that was still on the inside. She texted Sarita, saying it was an emergency and that she needed to talk to her immediately, and then headed over to her house. By the time she arrived, Lacey had undergone a complete transformation. She appeared at her friend's door looking every bit the broken and distraught girlfriend she should have been the entire time. Her hair was disheveled and mascara trailed down her face where tears had been. Sarita opened the door for Lacey and immediately enveloped her in a hug.

"I just don't know what to do, 'Rita," she said, sobbing into the other girl's shoulder, "I mean, how could this happen? How could he have done this?"

Sarita looked at her friend in concern, "Do you really think Danny did this? Do you think he's capable of this?"

"I don't know," Lacey said, fresh tears streaming down her face, "but why would Regina lie about something this big? I mean, I know she tends to be a bitch when she doesn't get her way but… rape? He could go to prison for years because of this."

"Do you really think it's above Regina to ruin someone's life?" Sarita asked, suddenly very serious.

"I don't know – I mean, I just don't know what to think anymore. He and I haven't been on that good of terms lately… he's been acting different and then tonight… what am I supposed to think?"

"I know what you mean, Lacey," Sarita said, stroking the girl's hair as she tried to calm her down. "I don't know what's going on, but for what it's worth, I don't think he did this."

"Will you help me figure this out then?" Lacey asked, looking up to Sarita, her eyes hopeful.

"I don't know Lacey… I mean, I'd do anything to help you but… are you sure you want to go against Regina?"

"Please, Rita, you're the only one I trust enough to help me," Lacey said, further wrapping the girl around her finger with every word.

Then unexpectedly, Sarita leaned in and kissed Lacey hard on the mouth. Lacey was caught by surprise, but kissed her back after a moment, before pulling away.

"Oh God, Lacey, I'm so sorry," Sarita said, covering her face with embarrassment. "I didn't mean to do that… I just couldn't help it – I'm sorry, please don't hate me."

"Don't be ridiculous, Rita," Lacey said, pulling the other girl in for a hug. "I could never hate you – you're one of my best friends. Although, you could have just told me how you felt a long time ago… it would have made things easier."

"You knew?" Sairta asked, suddenly mortified.

"Not at first, but I figured it out along the way. No worries, though – I'm fine with it and we can talk about it whenever you're ready. But can we not be awkward around each other right now? I really need your help."

"Of course, Lacey – I meant it when I said I'd do anything for you – even help you help your boyfriend," Sarita said, leaning back onto her friend's shoulder.

"_I'm going to hold you to that_," Lacey thought, hugging the girl.

* * *

**AN - Short chapter, but a lot happened. I'll post another update later today - have a good one you guys!**


	12. Countdown

**Countdown**

Danny was released late on Sunday afternoon, Jo meeting him at the front of the courthouse and driving him home. He was disappointed that Lacey hadn't been the one to meet him once he was released, and even more so to see that she wasn't at the apartment when he got there. He worked to control his thoughts, fighting the urge to automatically assume the worst. He looked around the apartment, noticing that several things were missing or rearranged.

"What happened to all my stuff?" he asked Jo as he walked from room to room, mentally noting everything that was gone.

"Oh yeah, um… Lacey kind of had a little meltdown after you got arrested and started breaking shit. It was pretty epic actually – it looked like a tornado had come through when I got here. And then she did this whole zonky, spaced out thing where her eyes turned black and she was talking in this really sweet, calm voice. It kind of freaked me out."

"Really?" he said, now concerned, "was she on anything?"

"No, not that I could tell," Jo replied, "I mean, she was in complete control of what she was doing. I don't know, dude, I've never seen her like that before. Whatever happened, you've got one scary girlfriend."

"Where's she at now, do you know?" he asked, the apartment suddenly feeling very empty without her. Scary or not, he missed her and he needed to make sure that she was okay.

"Not sure, exactly," Jo said, not sure how much to tell him about Lacey. She didn't want him to worry unnecessarily, but she also didn't know what kind of mindset Lacey would be in whenever she returned. "She left me Friday night with the bail money and said she had to go take care of a few things – I haven't heard from her since…"

Just as Jo was finishing, Lacey herself walked through the door, arms full of department store bags. "A little help here?" she called, and the other two immediately went to assist her in getting the bags through the door.

"Lacey, baby," Danny said, the relief at seeing her evident in his voice and on his face as he took in her presence.

"Hey there jailbird," she said breezily, setting down the purchases in her hands and walking over to him. She gave him a brief but deep kiss before pulling back. They remained in an embrace for several moments, looking into each other's eyes and relishing being back together.

"Uh hmmm… guys, remember me? Still here," Jo said, breaking through the couple's reverie. The intrusion seemed to bring them back to the present, and they broke apart.

"What's in the bags, Lace?" Danny said, making his way over to the many shopping bags sitting on the floor and peeking in.

"Oh, you know, home stuff," she said lightly, amused at his raised eyebrows. "I'm sure Jo told you I decided to do a little redecorating the other night. I figured it was a good time to go out and buy you a couple of things to spruce this place up, you know, since I broke every single non-plastic dish in the house."

"Was this some covert way of saying I need a woman's touch around here?" Danny asked, savoring the thought of Lacey being domestic. He enjoyed their time playing house, and looked forward to the day that it would be real. For now, though, he understood why it couldn't be like that every day – still, it didn't make him miss her any less when she left him at night. She was the only woman he'd ever met that made him actually look forward to waking up next to her each morning. The nights she stayed were the best – something about her just being there with him made him sleep so much better.

"Maybe," she responded coyly, stealing a kiss as she bypassed him, putting away her new purchases. They spent the rest of the afternoon rearranging the apartment to suit the new things Lacey had bought. Later, once Jo left, they spent the evening cuddling and watching a movie on the sofa before turning in for the night.

"Lacey, can we talk for a minute?" he asked, pulling her close to him as they lay together in the middle of his large bed.

"Sure babe," she said lazily, planting soft kisses on his chest before laying her head there.

"Are you okay, you know with everything that happened this weekend? I mean, you believe me when I tell you I didn't do this, right?"

She looked up at him, concern showing in her eyes. "Of course I know you didn't do it – do you really think I'd be here with you if I thought you did?"

"No, I'm just thinking – how is this going to look at school tomorrow? I mean, I've already decided to stay away for a few days, but you need to be there. Are you going to be okay seeing Regina?"

"Of course I am baby," she said confidently, "I'm not afraid of Regina."

"I know, I just don't want to make things harder for you," Danny said, looking at the ceiling to avoid her eyes as he spoke. "This isn't over just because I'm out of jail right now. Unless Regina changes her mind or some evidence shows up to exonerate me, I could be in serious trouble here. Like, leave-the-country trouble." He hadn't admitted to her until now what his plans were should Regina continue to press charges against him. He was lucky that he had the means to afford skipping over the border, but he didn't want to leave because he knew it would mean letting go of her. It was something that would only be done as a last resort, but he felt that he needed to warn her that the option was on the table.

"Look at me," Lacey said, searching his eyes and stroking her hands through his silky hair. "I am not going to let anything happen to you, okay?"

"Lace you can't control…" he started to argue, but she shushed him by placing a finger to his lips.

"Listen to me, Danny – I've got this. This problem started because of me, so I'm going to take care of it for you. But the idea of you getting out of town for a few days is a good one… let's table that for now."

"What are you…" Danny started again, but she silenced him again, this time by climbing on top of him, straddling his hips and aligning their middles. "Baby," she said as she sunk down onto him in one fluid movement, "I told you, I've got this. I just need you to trust me. Can you do that? Just… (_kiss_) trust… (_kiss_) me… (_kiss_)"

* * *

Regina sat on her bed, gossiping with Phoebe and Sarita as they went through the large pile of condolence cards. News about her "attack" had traveled quickly, and she had received an outpouring of support from "friends" who wished her a happy and safe recovery, and more who wished her blessings and strength in bringing her attacker to justice. It occurred to her that what she was doing could very well mean the end of Danny's life for the foreseeable future, and she realized in some vague sense that she should feel guilty, but she just didn't. She did, however, enjoy wallowing in the attention that was being showered on her, and she couldn't wait to go to school tomorrow. The thought of seeing Lacey's reaction to Regina's "injuries" was more than enough motivation to keep her on task. She allowed a momentary feeling of pity for her friend, imagining the devastation and humiliation that she would undoubtedly feel soon, if she wasn't already.

As the girls divided the letters into piles for perusal, Phoebe came across one that was addressed differently from the others. This letter had no post mark or return address, just Regina's name written across the front in thick black letters. Phoebe shrugged to herself before handing it to Regina. The redhead opened the letter, stopping midsentence as a horrified expression froze on her face. Phoebe and Sarita abruptly stopped what they were doing, rushing to Regina in confusion. Regina's hands started to shake violently, so much so that she dropped the letter. It floated to the floor and laded face up, it's message visible to everyone in the room.

"_**Liar, liar, lips on fire  
Tell the truth, or you'll expire**_

_**You have three days, Regina – See you soon"**_


	13. The Goodbye Game

**AN – Save Tonight update coming later today – thanks for sticking with me. My readers rock!**

* * *

**The Goodbye Game**

Lacey drove Danny's car to school the next day, picking up Jo along the way. Although prepared to face down Regina today, she felt that having the support of her friend would help her stay focused. Lacey knew Regina would try and goad her into a fight, but she had to keep her emotions in check at all costs – the stakes were too high at this point and she couldn't afford any slip ups.

Jo slid into the passenger seat of the black sports car, immediately noticing the fierceness of Lacey's demeanor. The atmosphere in the car was electric, but Lacey seemed relaxed and focused as she smiled at the blonde in greeting, not speaking as she sang along with the song she had playing on the stereo at the moment. Lacey moved her bag into the floorboard to make room for Jo, and the two pulled away from her house heading to school.

Once there, Jo took a moment to talk to Lacey. "Hey – so, are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Sure," Lacey said flippantly, applying her lipgloss in the mirror. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Lacey," Jo sighed, "You've been acting eerily calm since all this happened, but I know you haven't seen Regina since Danny got arrested. I just want to make sure you're not going to, you know, go postal or something when you see her. I mean, I totally have your back if you decide to beat her ass, but I don't want you to get in trouble over her."

"Seriously Jo, I'm good," Lacey said, smacking her lips together and looking at herself in the mirror in appreciation. Suddenly she turned the music on the radio up, singing along with the current song.

"_I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed,  
Get along with the voices inside of my head,  
You're trying to save me, stop holding your breath,  
And you think I'm crazy, yeah you think I'm crazy…"_

She paused, looking directly at Jo before finishing, "_Well that's not fair_…"

Jo exhaled slowly, "Yeah, see, that's what I mean. You say you're fine and then you go and do that… doesn't give me a whole lot of confidence about your mental state."

"Oh my God, Jo," Lacey smiled, getting out of the car and shrugging on her bag, "it's just a damn song. Stop being such a drama queen – I promise I'm fine. I'm not going to do anything to make things worse for Danny. Now come on – let's go get this over with."

The girls walked into the quad and were met with quiet stares and whispers. Regina and company were already there, of course, regailing everyone with stories of her brutal attack and how she looked forward to seeing Danny suffer for "what he'd done to her". Only when the attention shifted from Regina to the approaching Lacey and Jo did the redhead realize that her former friend was there.

"Well, look what the cat drug in - I'm surprised at you showing your face here today. I mean, if my boyfriend were in jail for raping someone, I would be far too embarrassed to come to school knowing everyone is talking about me," Regina said, her eyes glittering as she taunted Lacey.

"Yeah well, I guess I'm just a better woman than you are, Reg," Lacey shot back, jarringly calm. "You look good though – I'm glad to see that you're recovering so well from your 'attack'. I figured you would milk this for at least a week off of school – you know, because of all the emotional trauma you've been subjected to over the last few days."

"The grief counselors said that it was important for me to get back to my normal routine as soon as possible, for healing purposes," Regina said, her voice filled with faux dissonance. "I wasn't sure I was ready, but they said the supportive environment of all my friends would do me a world of good."

"Well, whatever it is, I'm glad it's working – you clearly need all the help you can get," Lacey said, giving Regina her best smile. She walked closer to the girl, giving her a tight hug and whispering in her ear, "_Don't think I'm going to play this little game with you, Regina; I won't – at least not here_."

Regina smiled and patted Lacey's back affectionately, before whispering back, "_There's no point in playing, Lacey – can't you see I've already won? I told you that I would… you should have just listened, let me have him and all of this could have been avoided_."

Lacey squeezed the redhead once more before letting her go and stepping away, saying, "I really am glad that you're okay, Reg. I'd hate for anything else to happen to you." To everyone else who'd seen the exchange, it looked as if the two girls had shared a moment, and maybe even achieved some sort of peace between them. To Regina, it appeared that Lacey was backing down, and that she wasn't going to fight her on this. Then Regina's phone buzzed, alerting her to an incoming message. She clicked it on and opened the text, her face falling slightly as she read it.

"_**2 days, Regina – enjoy this while it lasts"**_

She closed her eyes, trying to control her breathing as she looked at Lacey. She started to say something, but before she could get it out another message came through:

"_**You look tired today – trouble sleeping?"**_

Immediately she looked around, anxious to determine who it was that was sending her these messaged. She was sure that she had covered all of her bases, but now she was starting to doubt herself.

"Something wrong, Reg?" Lacey asked, her voice filled with concern that almost sounded sincere. Regina looked at her hands, disappointed to find them empty of a cell phone. "_Who is sending these messages?"_ she thought worriedly.

"Nope, not at all," Regina mumbled, "Just feeling a little overwhelmed by all the people here. C'mon Phoebe, Rita – help me get to class please?"

"Hey Phoebs," Lacey called as the three girls started to head off toward the double doors. Phoebe turned around, nervously meeting Lacey's eyes as she waited for the latter girl, "nice gloves."

Phoebe looked down at her hands, instinctively flexing them inside the black lace surrounding her fingers and palms. She looked back up at Lacey like a deer in headlights, managing a squeaky, "Umm thanks," before scurrying off to catch up with Sarita and Regina.

Lacey turned back to Jo and the pair walked through the opposite entrance into school. As they made their way down the hallway to their respective classes, Lacey took a moment to gloat. "See Jo, I told you were worried about nothing."

"Yeah, you definitely handled that better than I was expecting – good job. And what was the deal with Regina? She got a text or something and it was like she'd seen a ghost. She is really going hard on the theatrics, huh?"

"Yeah, that's Reg, always doing the most to keep in character. She and Phoebe have that in common. Anyway, see you at lunch?"

"Yep – see you then," Jo confirmed, leaving Lacey in the hallway as she walked into her classroom.

Lacey reached into her back pocket, pulling out her cell and composing a quick message to Sarita.

"_**Looks like you were right about Phoebe – break her**_"

* * *

Danny was busy with his chemist that afternoon, so Lacey decided to go home for awhile before meeting him at his apartment later. She'd been avoiding her house as much as possible the last few days, but she knew better than to think that Judy would continue to allow her to stay away indefinitely. Lacey also knew that they were overdue for a real discussion about the photos she'd seen months before, and as much as she didn't want to have that conversation with her mother, she knew that it was necessary.

She arrived home earlier than her mother and sister as usual. This was usually the time that she ran upstairs to grab whatever clothes, etc. she needed for the next few days and scribbled Judy a quick note about where she would be before clearing out as quickly as possible. She was actually surprised Judy had allowed her absence to go on for as long as it had without really addressing it. They'd gotten into a few fights in the beginning, with her mother holding the threat of Seattle over her head, but Lacey had stopped caring by that point. She'd turned 18 in November, and after that Judy knew that she was powerless to stop Lacey if she truly decided that she didn't want to stay. Lacey still spent several nights per week at the house, but she always stayed out until well after Judy had gone to bed and was sure to wake up and leave before her every morning.

Tonight, though, Lacey decided to be Judy's daughter instead of her nemesis – at least for one night. She went to the fridge, selecting the ingredients for shrimp alfredo, and set about making dinner for her mother and sister. She had just finished rinsing the noodles when the two walked in, obviously shocked at seeing a smiling, cooking Lacey in their kitchen.

"Hey mom, hey Clare Bear," she said as the two cautiously made their way into the room. "I hope you didn't already eat – I cooked."

"No, I was just going to order in," Judy said, her voice guarded. "I'm surprised to see you here, baby."

"Yeah well, I figured I had to come home sometime, right?" Lacey said, deflecting some of the tension away, "I missed you guys – and I'm tired of being mad at you mom."

Judy immediately went to her daughter, enveloping her in a hug, all thoughts of dinner forgotten as she whispered prayers of thanks for her daughter's return. Both women cried for awhile, eventually parting as Lacey realized her sauce was burning on the stove.

The trio had dinner together, laughing and smiling as they became reacquainted with one another. They filled each other in on the details of what had been going on in their lives since they'd last talked, it seemed for a moment that they were simply going to tip-toe around the giant elephant in the room once again. It was Clara who finally brought it up, forcing the older two to acknowledge the issue that had caused the rift between them in the first place.

"Are you two really going to sit there and act like everything is okay when you've barely spoken in months?" the younger teen said, staring between her mother and sister with a stony look on her face.

"Clara's right, Lacey," Judy said hesitantly, "I owe you an explanation about those photos. Actually, I owe both of you an explanation…"

Judy then set about telling her daughters the truth about her marriage to their father. She told them how she'd dated him briefly in college, and how she became pregnant with Lacey early on in the relationship. They'd gotten married because of the baby, but they'd never really loved each other. Judy said that she'd hoped that they would be able to grow to love each other eventually, but it never happened that way. She said that Lacey was four when she found out that her husband was gay, and that she would have left, except by that time she was already pregnant with Clara. She wasn't working at the time, and felt that she couldn't afford to raise both daughters on her own as a single mother, so she made an arrangement with their father that he could continue the lifestyle of his choosing as long as he participated in the girls' lives as a father and continued to support them financially.

"That isn't all, though, is it mom?" Clara asked, giving her mother the option to tell the entire truth.

"What do you mean, Clar?" Judy asked, hedging.

"Tell Lacey about the DNA tests - tell her what they said about us," the girl said more forcefully, challenging her mother to deny or confirm what she already knew to be true. When her mother didn't speak, Clara took it upon herself to tell her sister. "It seems that we have different fathers, sissy. Dad is your real dad, but he's not mine…"

"Oh Clara," Lacey gasped, immediately enveloping her sister into a hug. How horrible it must be to know your mother has been actively lying to you about something so important for your entire life.

"Now do you want to tell me the truth, mom?" Clara asked, her voice small but still steady.

Judy broke down at that point, the (whole) truth flowing out of her. She told them about meeting Roderick a few years after she'd gotten married to their father. She talked about the affair they'd had eventually resulting in Clara being conceived. She hadn't known at the time that Clara was not Samuel's child, and so she ended things with Roderick, resolving to recommit to her family. Months later she found out about her husband's homosexuality, but by then Roderick had moved on to someone else. He eventually married, but they never stopped loving each other. Finding out that Clara was his child was a fluke, when they discovered that she had an unusual allergy to chocolate after a particularly disastrous elementary school birthday party which ended in the emergency room. After that, they'd rekindled their romance and for a while everything was good. Then last year they'd gotten into a huge argument. Roderick was tired of going along with the charade of Judy's marriage to Samuel – he wanted to be a family with her and Lacey and Clara, but Judy was reluctant to upset the comfortable lifestyle she and the girls shared with her husband. Roderick was killed in a car accident after he left Judy that afternoon, and she was never the same after that. Lacey's heart clutched in her chest as she watched the pain wash over her mother anew. She'd thought that her mother was faking the heartache that she'd been feeling in the time up to and after her divorce, but now she realized that Judy hadn't been lying about being hurt, she'd just been lying about the cause of the pain. She felt a rush of empathy for her mother, realizing that, even though the woman had made poor choices, she truly did love her daughters. She also felt for her sister, knowing that she would need Lacey more than ever now that this was their new reality. She wondered idly how long Clara had known, and why she hadn't said anything.

She called Danny, letting him know that she was talking to her mother and that she wouldn't be coming to the apartment tonight after all. The disappointment of not seeing her was obvious in his voice as they spoke, but he was glad that she'd finally been able to talk to both of them about what had been going on. He let her know that he was going out of town for a few days, heading upstate to visit his mother and talk with his lawyer about defense strategies for the upcoming trial. Jury selection was set to begin in just another week, the court proceedings being sped up at the urging of Regina's mother. Danny was very nervous about the impending trial, and Lacey tried to assuage his fears as best as she could. She reassured him that she loved him and that she would be by his side every step of the way – no matter what.

They said their goodbyes and Lacey hung up the phone just as a light knock came at her door. Clara edged through timidly, scarcely looking at her sister.

"Cmon over here Clare Bear," Lacey said gently, making room on her bed for her little sister.

"Can I sleep in here with you tonight, sissy?" the younger girl asked quietly.

"Of course," Lacey said, pulling the covers back so that she could climb in beside her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Clara shook her head, closing her eyes before speaking, "No, not really. I'm not mad at her anymore… I guess because I've known for so long. I was mad at you, though… I wanted to tell you I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry," Lacey said. "I haven't been that great of a big sister this year, huh? I broke my promise to you – I'm the one who should be sorry."

"No, I understand," Clara responded. "I just want you to be happy, Lacey. You're a good big sister, I just wish you were here more. I miss you."

"I miss you too, sissy," she said, smiling into Clara's hair. "I'm going to do better about that, though… I'm going to make sure I'm around more for you. And you know you can always call me if you need me. Just because I'm caught up in my own stuff doesn't mean I don't have time for you."

"How are you doing with that, by the way?" Clara asked sitting up and looking at her sister's blank face. When Lacey didn't answer, she rolled her eyes. "Come on, Lacey, I know about Regina saying your boyfriend raped her. I mean, I doubt it's true since you're still with him, but still, that's gotta be hard – are you okay?"

Lacey smiled at her little sister. It was so like Clara to have gone through what was probably the most traumatizing night of her young life and still be more concerned about Lacey and her drama than she was her own. "I'm fine Clara – I know Danny didn't do this. Regina is just jealous because she wanted him and he wasn't interested in her… this is like her sick way of getting back at me for 'stealing' him. But she doesn't have any proof, so I feel like everything is going to be okay."

Clara looked at her sister skeptically, unsure that she was telling her the truth. Eventually she decided Lacey was being sincere, and so she settled into her pillow, falling asleep almost immediately. Lacey stayed awake a little longer, smiling as she watched her sister sleeping peacefully, thankful that Clara had no idea about what was really going through her mind at that moment.


	14. Time's Up

**Time's Up**

Lacey awoke the next morning, prepared for whatever the day may bring. This was the last day she had given Regina to recant her rape accusation against Danny, and she wondered if she would. Regina had seemed more than a little freaked by the warnings she'd been sent over the last two days, but somehow Lacey doubted that Regina would heed them. "_Reg always was a stubborn one_," she thought wryly as she headed to school, picking Jo up just as she had the day prior.

"You look happy today," Jo said, sliding into the passenger seat and buckling in. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Lacey said, grinning at her friend, "Just feeling pretty positive. I had a talk with my mom and Clara last night, and it really changed my perspective on some things. I'm feeling very optimistic that today is going to go extremely well."

"Well, I'm glad you're feeling so good about everything," Jo replied, "because I'm not. I'm really worried about Danny – it doesn't look like Regina is going to retract. I talked to him last night and he said his lawyer isn't giving him the best feeling about the subject. Lacey, you know if she lets this go to trial, he's gonna run right?"

"It isn't going to come to that," Lacey said confidently, "I have Sarita working on Phoebe, and she's about to break. She'll admit that she helped Regina stage the injuries, and then they'll have no choice to drop the charges."

"But what if she doesn't? Lacey, I can't lose him – he's my best friend."

"Listen Jo," Lacey said, pulling the car over and turning to look at her friend, "you and Danny both have to trust me on this. We will get that confession and the charges will be dropped. Danny isn't going anywhere, I promise you. Can you just trust me to take care of things?" Jo nodded her head, breaking eye contact with Lacey and looking out the window. "Good – now just relax and be cool. I may not like Regina very much, but I know her like the back of my hand. This will all be sorted out by the end of the week one way or the other."

Noticing that Jo still seemed doubtful, Lacey decided to approach her with the other thing that had been on her mind in an effort to distract her from the Danny situation. "I meant to ask you Jo, do you have plans for Saturday night?"

"Nah- nothing right now. Why, what's up?"

"Nothing major," Lacey said slyly, "I just wanted to know if you'd be interested in going out on a date with a friend of mine."

"Oh no! You are not setting me up on a blind date with some random lesbo you met in a club somewhere!" Jo said, mortified at the idea.

"She's not some random lesbo - she happens to be a very good friend of mine, who is gorgeous, and who I think you would really hit it off with. C'mon Jo – when was the last time you went out on a date? You need to get out and have some fun instead of spending so much time worrying about Danny and the business," Lacey coaxed.

Jo studied Lacey with a dubious expression, before finally relenting. "Fine," she said with false exasperation. Upon noticing Lacey's excited reaction, she added, "You know, you really have a way of making people do what you want. Maybe you'll be able to talk Regina out of this whole rape thing after all."

Lacey cocked an eyebrow at her friend, and flashed her a confirmation smile. "_I have no intention of talking Regina out of anything_," she thought, "_but the less you know about that, the better_."

* * *

The girls arrived at school and went their separate ways as Lacey met up with Sarita outside of the gym. Sarita filled Lacey in on her conversation with Phoebe the night before, but stopped short of her confirming the entire assault was a ruse.

"Regina has her locked up tight," Sarita said, sounding frustrated. "I tried really hard, but she would never say anything concrete enough for us to give to the police."

"I figured that might be a problem," Lacey said. "No worries though, you and her are going out tonight, and I'm confident that you'll get everything we need." She removed something from her pocket, placing it into Sarita's hand.

"What's this?" Sarita said, opening her fist to see two little white pills resting in her palm. "You want me to roofie Phoebe?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Lacey said, rolling her eyes at her friend, "she wouldn't be any good to us that way. Think of those as an insurance policy – drop one of those into her drink and she'll be telling you her deepest darkest secrets for the rest of the night."

"I don't know about this Lacey," Sarita said uneasily. She'd been up for helping the other girl throughout this little plan, but as more days passed, Lacey seemed to be getting more and more reckless.

Lacey reached out, stroking the side of Sarita's face and watching as the girl closed her eyes and leaned into the touch. "Rita, you know I would never do anything to hurt Phoebs or to get you in trouble. I just want the truth. That pill isn't going to hurt her; it's just going to make her relax. How many times have we watched her pop pills to relax? Now, please, I need you to do this for me. I love him, I can't handle him going away for so many years because of me. Please?"

Sarita opened her eyes, immediately feeling the loss as Lacey pulled her hand away. "Yeah, I know Lacey. I'll do it – you're sure it won't hurt her?"

"Of course! I'm not a monster," Lacey said excitedly, hugging her friend and brushing a quick kiss across the corner of her mouth. "You're amazing, 'Rita – I don't know what I would do without you. By the way, what are you doing Saturday night?..."

* * *

Regina went about her day cautiously, wondering whether she would receive another warning from her stalker. She wasn't worried about the messages so much (although the anonymity of them was starting to freak her out), but she was concerned about Phoebe. Her friend, it seemed, did not have the stomach for framing random people for crimes the way she did. Phoebe was convinced that they would get caught, and it had taken everything Regina had to keep the girl from going straight to the police and confessing the night before. Regina knew that she would have to figure out something to keep Phoebe quiet over the long term, but she was satisfied that her "gentle threats" ensured that she would hold her peace a while longer. Regina wasn't sure how far she was prepared to carry this, but she was excited about jury selection coming up the following week. The publicity surrounding her attack had made her something of a celebrity in Green Grove, with everyone wanting to know how she was holding up. She'd even been asked by the local news station to come on "Wake Up Green Grove" next week to talk about her ordeal and how she was coping. Who knew if her story wouldn't get picked up by a larger network if she played her cards right – she couldn't let Phoebe ruin that for her.

She was sitting in the student lounge during her study period, scrolling through Facebook and contemplating her impending fame when she noticed a message pop up in her inbox from a friend she'd met over the summer. The title of the message was "Pics from the Hamptons" and Regina was excited to see what was inside. When she clicked the link, however, her screen went completely black. She cocked her head to the side, clicking the mouse and hitting "Ctrl-Atl-Del" as she tried to figure out what happened to the computer. Then, a picture of her appeared, only the picture had been altered. Where her eyes and mouth should have been, now there were only thick black x's. The picture slowly faded into the black background, and was replaced by the words "TIME'S UP" in large red letters. Regina sat still with shock, watching as the screen filled with more and more pictures of her face, the words "time's up" plastered over each of them. Her hands shook as she pulled out her cell to call Phoebe, her stomach sinking as she realized she had a new text message, again from an unknown number. She closed her eyes, swallowing quickly and willing herself to be calm. "_It's just a stupid joke_," she told herself, "_no one really knows. This is just some Lacey mind game bullshit_." She opened the message, exhaling slowly as she read it. It was simple, as usual –

"_**See you soon, Regina**_"


	15. Reckoning

**Reckoning**

A ringing phone in the middle of the night is usually a sign of something bad, something that you don't want to hear about. Lacey hoped that this was not the case tonight as she rolled over in her bed, her hand searching blindly over the nightstand for the phone. She found the device, immediately clicking the side button to silence the offending noise before looking at the caller ID. Pleased, she answered –

"Please tell me you got something useful."

"Damn, Lacey – can I at least get a 'hey, how ya doin' before we jump right into the nitty gritty?" Sarita said sarcastically.

"Sorry 'Rita – hey, how are you? Please tell me you got something useful."

"I did indeed. Check your email – I just sent you the audio file."

Lacey reached down beside her bed, grabbing up her iPad and swiping it open. Sarita waited patiently as she went to the Gmail app, opening the latest message and clicking on the link. She listened as Phoebe's voice filled the speakers, the girl talking candidly about what she and Regina had done. Her words were slightly slurred, but it was clear what she was saying. Lacey smiled, as Sarita questioned what she thought about the clip.

"This is gold, Sarita!" Lacey screeched excitedly, "This could not be any more perfect if we'd written it for her ourselves! You are the best!"

She continued to gush as she and Sarita planned the next move. Lacey decided the best thing to do would be to download the file to a thumb drive and drop it off at the police department. She gave Sarita that task for the following morning, as well as a plausible cover story as to why she was recording Phoebe in the first place.

* * *

Sarita set the plan in motion the next day and the following days were a whirlwind of activity. Phoebe was brought in for questioning, and it took less than an hour for her to tell the police everything. Her information about using the jump rope and grapefruit to create Regina's bruises was enough to make Regina recant her allegations, and charges were dropped against Danny. She didn't return to school for the rest of the week, too embarrassed about the fallout from her little charade being exposed.

"_At least I have the weekend to myself_," Regina thought, reclining in her bedroom on Saturday evening. Her mother had decided that the negative attention caused by Regina's lie was too much for her to deal with, so she'd taken off for a week-long spa retreat. "Thank God for that," Regina continued her inner monologue aloud, "the last thing I need is her looking down her nose at me all weekend. Who can relax with that around?"

She grabbed a handful of the cotton candy colored pills by her bed, popping them one by one as she browsed for something to watch on television.

"You do know that isn't candy, right Reg?" Lacey said, appearing suddenly at the door to Regina's room.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Regina said, clearly startled by the other girl's appearance. She hadn't expected anyone to be in her home, least of all her former best friend.

"What are you talking about?" Lacey asked, her tone sickeningly sweet. "I just wanted to check and see how you're doing, what with all the publicity you've been dealing with lately. That can't be easy for you."

"Hmmmph," Regina snorted, "because I'm sure you're soo concerned about my well-being. You've been messing with me for days, trying to get me to come clean. Well, it worked – you won. Your little boyfriend is free now, so you can stop with the games – it's over."

"Oh no, Reg," Lacey said, her eyes wide and feral, "this isn't over, not by a long shot. See, you tried to take something from me, something that didn't belong to you. You tried to ruin my life, as well as his, and you almost succeeded. Getting caught up doesn't absolve you from your punishment."

"Wh-what are you talking about Lacey?" Regina asked, quickly becoming nervous as she began to feel tired and claustrophobic. "I'm not af-afraid of you."

"And that, my dear Reg, was your mistake. You always underestimate me – you always have. But I'll bet you won't be making that mistake again. I've got to admit though, you did a really good job. The whole 'rape' thing was a genius scheme. I mean, you probably would have won, had this gone to court. The thing about accusing people of crimes like that is that you don't actually need physical evidence - you just need to be able to play on the heartstrings of the unsuspecting jurors. And you, Reg? You always were the best at faking it. Even the injuries were a nice touch, but you should have known that I would know. I mean, I am the one who taught you the trick with the citrus fruits, after all. And of course, Phoebe never could hold water. You would have been better off doing everything yourself - you might have gotten away with it then."

Regina laid back on her bed, barely able to keep her eyes open. "Wha-what's happening to me?"

"Oh that. You know those pills you just took?" Lacey said, smiling venomously, "Those weren't the X pills you thought you'd bought from Cole earlier. I took the liberty of switching them out for something that I thought would work a little better at relaxing you. Those are Lortab – you know, hydrocodone. I thought they might work a little faster for you than the X."

Lacey sat casually on the end of the bed, watching with little more than passing interest as Regina clawed at her throat struggling to breath. "What's the matter, Reg? You don't like my gift? I thought you of all people could appreciate the beauty in this. It's very rude of you not to at least say 'thank you'."

She looked over at the redhead, noticing the swelling of her lips and face. "What's wrong, Reg? You look puffy. Oh wait, I forgot – you're allergic to hydrocodone, huh? No wonder you look like the Michelin Man!" Lacey smiled gleefully as she stood over the other girl. "Anaphylaxis does not look good on you, Reg. I hope some of the swelling goes down before your funeral. If not, the pictures are going to be terrible, and you know how much Gloria would hate that. She'll probably have you cremated and do a memorial service with your urn next to one of your senior portraits. But look on the brightside – you're going to be more famous now than ever."

She watched for a few more minutes as the red head's eyes bulged open, the girl struggling to speak at the life faded from her. It occurred to her that Regina's Epi-pen was just on the other side of the room – the girl could have saved herself if she had taken a normal dosage of the pills. As usual, though, she hadn't – Regina always took too much.

Once Regina had completely stopped breathing, Lacey got up and wiped away her fingerprints from the doorknob and any other surfaces she may have touched while there. She was pretty sure that the police would determine that this was either suicide or accidental overdose, but either way she didn't want to be questioned. Just to be safe, she made sure to put one more detail into the staging. She grabbed Regina's phone, scrolling through her contacts and selecting Cole's number, creating a message for him.

"_**What the hell was in these pills**_?"

Smiling to herself, she clicked send and wiped the phone, placing it in Regina's hand. She walked to the door, turning around to survey her work with appreciation. Satisfied that she'd taken care of everything, she left the house and headed back to her car. Her man was coming home tonight, and she wanted to be waiting for him when he arrived – they had some time to make up for.


	16. My Kind of Love

**AN – Hey guys! Sorry this update took so long – work has been INSANE the last few days! Anyway – I'm glad you all enjoyed the last chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one too! Also – WARNING: SMUT AHEAD. As usual, smut is in the line breaks – skip if you don't want to read it. Everyone else – enjoy!**

* * *

**My Kind of Love**

When Danny arrived at the apartment later that evening, he found Lacey in an unusual state. He walked through the door to find her sitting on the sofa, watching the news, and drinking an expensive peach champagne straight from the bottle. He stood at the door, taking a moment to take in her beauty. She was dressed in a lacy pink bra and panty set, coupled with one of his grey button down shirts. He noticed with appreciation that the hem of his shirt stopped just past the bottom of her boyshorts, putting her firm thighs on full display for him. Her long wavy hair was pulled away from her face in a messy high ponytail, loose tendrils escaping here and there. He watched the way that her supple lips closed around the bottle, feeling himself stir and begin to grow hard as he imagined being between them instead.

"Hey beautiful," he said, smiling to himself as he caught her attention. She had been so into whatever it was that she was watching on television that she hadn't noticed his arrival. She immediately broke into a huge smile, standing and spreading her arms wide as he walked toward her, enveloping her in a hug.

"Hey you," she whispered into his neck, kissing him. "Welcome home – I missed you."

"I missed you, too," he responded, picking her up and taking her back to the couch. "What are you up to?"

"I'm celebrating!" she exclaimed as he sat on the couch, her legs still wrapped around him. He smiled in amusement as she giggled and hiccupped – clearly she'd been celebrating without him for quite a while.

"What are we celebrating?" he asked as he watched her continued spectacle. She smiled but didn't respond; instead she shifted to the left, falling slightly off his lap and gestured toward the television. He expected to see the good news of his being cleared of Regina's rape, but instead when he turned to the screen, he only saw Regina's face. Confused at first, he took the remote from Lacey's hand and turned up the volume on the television set in an effort to hear better. He listened with rapt attention as the anchor reported on the top story of the evening.

"Wealthy socialite Regina Crane was found dead this evening in her home, the product of an apparent drug overdose." Danny's heart sped up and his eyes glazed over – surely this wasn't happening, right? It was too good to be true… and yet, there it was on the screen. He listened as the reporter continued to tell how Lupita, the Crane's housekeeper, had returned to the house after her shift to check on Regina, only to find her dead in her bed, a handful of pills scattered beside her. Lupita had immediately called the police, as well as Regina's mother, who was now crying and making tearful pleas to the entire viewing audience. She talked about the tragedy that had ended her daughter's life and vowed to find the person or persons responsible. The screen flashed back to the anchor, who stated that the death was an ongoing investigation and that it had not yet been determined whether the overdose was suicide or accidental.

Danny turned his head toward Lacey, shock still radiating off of him. He noticed that she was watching the news report as well, a smug smile on her face as she twirled her fingers through the ends of her hair. Something about her expression set him ill at ease – it was as if she knew what was going on before they said it. This was a breaking news story, and therefore had only just come on when he walked in the door. How was it that she showed no emotion of surprise or shock? He didn't expect her to be very sad, but he did expect for her to have some sort of reaction. This subdued, smug Lacey was completely unexpected, and he was concerned about what it implied.

"Lace? What is this?" he asked, watching carefully for her response. She turned her eyes away from the tv, and gave him a shrug, "What baby? I told you I'd take care of it."

"What do you mean, 'take care of it'? Lacey, what did you do?" Danny asked, unsure of what to think. Was she telling him that she knew more about this? That she had something to do with Regina's death?

"It means just exactly what it sounds like," Lacey said seductively, moving back into his lap and leaning down to kiss him.

He turned his head away from her kiss, pressing her for more answers. After a few minutes of incessant questioning from him, she finally (reluctantly) relented. "Fine, Danny, you wanna know what happened, I'll tell you: Regina OD-ed on some pills, like she does pretty much weekly. I guess she took too much this time or took the wrong thing… whatevs. The point is, now she's dead, and we don't have to worry about her anymore." She attempted to kiss him again, but he held her off.

"Lacey, I know there's more to it than that. Did you do something to her? Is that why you wanted me out of town for a few days?" he asked, his eyes searching hers for answers he feared her mouth wouldn't tell him.

"Plausible deniability," she said matter of factly. At his confused look, she leaned in to kiss him before repeating herself, "Plausible deniability. I told you I would protect you and I have. I have no idea what the police think they found at her place or what conclusions they will come to, but whatever it is, you are protected from implication as a suspect or accomplice. You have plausible deniability."

"Lace," he said, his voice dropping as she gave up kissing his lips and began focusing her attention on his neck instead, "tell me – what did you do."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she mumbled, sucking lightly on his carotid. Frustrated, he pushed her away from him in an attempt to get her to tell him the truth. She fell backward, her back hitting the arm of the sofa as he roughly removed her hands and legs from him. She looked at him again, her eyes flashing with something that he couldn't quite identify. It seemed to be a mix between anger and arousal, and it affected him almost instantly. He tried not to focus on this however, and was determined to get answers out of her.

"Fine, Danny – we can play that game. If you want the truth, I'll give it to you – but don't be upset if you hear something you don't exactly like…"

With that Lacey set about telling him how she offed Regina. She told him about working with Sarita to break Phoebe, including stealing some of his drugs to do it. She told him about how she employed some of the principles of psychological terrorism to goad Regina into confessing that she'd lied, including the anonymous letter and untraceable phone/internet messages. He watched her eyes sparkle as she went over every detail with him, telling how she'd used an app on her phone to time and send the messages, writing them earlier on and then timing them to send randomly throughout the day. She talked about having Sarita drop the recording of Phoebe off at the police station, and then using Phoebe against Regina to get the charges dropped against him. She even told him about remembering that Regina was allergic to hydrocodone.

When she got to that part, she hesitated before giving him the rest. She wasn't sure what he would think of her once he knew what she'd done. Still, she'd come this far – she figured there was no point in backing down now.

"Reg had this really bad habit of popping handfuls of X daily, right? She especially loved the little cotton candy colored variety that she picked up from Cole at least once weekly. So, I decided I would duplicate them… I bummed some Lortabs from my mom's medicine cabinet and crushed them up. I dyed them the different colors with some powder dye and then pushed them into little molds to make them look like X. I snuck into her house before she got home and switched them, telling her what I did after I watched her take 5-6 of them. Anaphylaxis is an awful way to die…"

She drifted off, lost in her thoughts. Danny watched her carefully, unsure of what to say. He realized that what Jo had said all along was true – his girlfriend was absolutely batshit crazy, like, beyond all belief insane. The intensity and blackness he saw in her eyes was terrifying to him… and yet also incredibly sexy. He found the depths of her depravity comforting in many ways – he was, after all, an incredibly fucked-up person himself. He knew that logically he should be running away from her right now, but found all he wanted to do at that moment was ravage her. She loved him – truly loved him, in a way no one else in his life ever had or would. She loved him enough to put everything in her life in danger to protect him, enough to take the very life of someone else to ensure that he was safe. It was a heady feeling, and suddenly he couldn't help himself…

"Come. Here. Now"

* * *

Danny lifted her up, instinctively leaning in to the feel of her legs wrapping around his waist as he carried her to the bedroom. He laid her back on the bed, taking a moment to appreciate her beauty beneath him. He loved the way his shirt looked on her, and the way the blush of pink lace complemented her tawny skin. He knelt in front of her, loosening his pants to alleviate some of the pressure growing in his groin as he kissed her all over. He worked his expert lips up and down her body, paying special attention to those special pressure points that he knew drove her wild. Her body reacted to him in kind, her back arching to meet each kiss and touch. He worked his way down to her middle, kissing and licking across her taut stomach, down the roundness of her hips. He kneaded her creamy thighs in his hands as he made his way to her nethers, kissing her soft lips through the flimsy fabric. He smiled as she tensed slightly at the tickling sensations he made her feel. She thrust her hips at him, silently begging him to bring her some satisfaction – of course, he was more than happy to oblige.

He hooked two fingers through each side of her underwear, pulling them down and swiftly discarding them. He spread her legs again, situating one knee over each of his shoulders as he stared at her precious mound. He leaned in, smiling in satisfaction with the heat and wetness he felt radiating from her. He placed another sound kiss at her entrance before standing up and laying down on the bed beside her. She looked at him with a confused expression, trying to understand why he had stopped.

"Don't worry," he whispered, "I just want to try something a little different tonight."

He moved up to the head to the bed, situating himself among the pillows and pulling her on top of him. She shimmied down, preparing for ride him, but he caught her, pulling her back upward. She watched him, perplexed as he scooted down, positioning himself beneath her and pulling her body toward him. He felt her immediately tense as she felt his tongue breached her lips, his thick tongue licking her from the bottom of her entrance up to her clit, circling the sensitive nub before descending again. He repeated this several times over, pleased as he felt the tension dissipating from her body. He brought his hands to cup her ass, moving her hips in time as he sucked and licked at her, nipping her bundle of nerves lightly. He continued his ministrations for a bit, working her into a frenzy as she gained confidence in this new position. Finally, he slipped his tongue inside of her, fucking her slowly with it. Lacey fell forward at the intrusion, grinding her hips into his face as she rode his tongue. He felt her muscles begin to tighten as her orgasm approached, and he held her hips to steady her as her legs began to shake around him.

Orgasms usually had a way of taking Lacey's breath away, and she generally needed a minute or two to regain her composure after one had passed – but tonight it was different. Tonight she felt that she couldn't get enough of Danny, and she longed to feel him inside of her. As soon as her climax subsided, she moved from his face, replacing one set of lips for another as she kissed him hard. The taste and scent of herself on him only served to spur her on further as she fumbled clumsily with his pants, pushing them down just far enough to fully free his erection. She grasped him tightly, relishing the hiss that emitted from his lips as she stroked him several times, her long fingers wrapping around his thickness fully. Satisfied that he was at his full hardness, she moved herself above him, sinking onto him slowly. She allowed her body a moment to readjust, having spent more than a week without him, before moving. She ground her body onto him once again, unable to get enough at that moment. She pulled him into a sitting position, burying her face into his hair and scratching her nails down his back as they made love. This was a new dynamic to them – it was feral and animalistic and maddening in its intensity.

* * *

They'd been together many times in the past, but this was different – it was as if their relationship had transcended to a new level of love and trust. He knew then that she would do anything for him, and she knew that he accepted her, even the worst parts of her. At that moment they both understood the meaning of the term "unconditional love", and they knew that they'd found it in one another.

Danny felt himself growing closer to the edge, and he attempted to slow her down in an effort to prolong their lovemaking. Lacey sensed this and smiled, leaning down to whisper to him, "_Don't think, just feel – let me feel you_."

Her words were all he needed, managing only a few more strokes before he let go, unloading inside of her. He let out a guttural growl, biting the place on her neck where he'd been kissing and prompting her own matching orgasm as well. The two of them remained in place for several long moments, clinging to each other as they worked to bring their breathing back to normal rates. Danny laid back into the pillows, taking her with him. She settled onto his chest, placing small kisses across the broadest part of him as he rubbed soothing circles onto her back.

"Lace," he asked, hesitant to break their blissful mood but needing to know. "Why did you do it?"

She gave a contented sigh, her eyes remaining closed as she responded with surety, "Because I love you that much. Because I want you every day of forever, no matter what."

He smiled, leaning up to kiss her forehead as he felt himself drifting off to sleep. "Ditto."


	17. Old Friends for Sale

**Old Friends for Sale**

While Lacey was preparing to greet Danny on his return home, Sarita was across town getting ready for her date. She tried to hide her disappointment as she got dressed, unsure of what the night would bring. She knew realistically that Lacey did not and would not ever reciprocate her feelings, and yet she knew she'd be lying if she said she wasn't holding out hope just in case. She'd spent years watching and waiting for Lacey, playing the role of the supportive best friend when all the time she knew that she wanted so much more from her. There had been a couple of times when she thought Lacey might come around – a drunken kiss here or there, an errant touch when she was a little out of it on pills… Sarita always hoped that they would remain when the two of them were sober, but Lacey barely seemed to remember at all. Still, Sarita loved Lacey – the two of them shared a bond that transcended a silly crush, and their friendship was always of utmost important to her…

Which led her back to now and the date that she was preparing for. Lacey had insisted that Sarita go out on this blind date with the "super hot friend" she had waiting in the wings for her. Sarita tried very hard to be positive about the date and not to feel that it was a consolation prize being given to her by Lacey in an effort to assuage the minimal guilt she felt at using Sarita to free Danny. Sarita knew though, that this was exactly what Lacey was doing, and she might have been miffed if she hadn't used the situation to her own advantage as well. She'd allowed Lacey to seduce her, knowing all the while what she was doing, simply because she enjoyed the touch and feel of the other girl.

Snapping out of her reverie, Sarita took another look at herself as she finished her hair in the mirror. She'd straightened her wavy brown hair for the night, and it now hung long and bone straight down past her waist. She'd decided on a bright blue pencil skirt over a sheer black top, both of which hugged her petite curves in the most flattering way. "_Just because I don't feel up to this doesn't mean she shouldn't enjoy herself, right_?" Sarita asked herself, touching up her mascara and pushing up her bra before grabbing her Jacket and purse, heading out the door.

Jo waited at the table, nervously wringing her hands and wiping away the sweat onto her pants. She was mentally berating herself for everything about this evening – why had she allowed Lacey to talk her into this? She felt ridiculous having gotten all dressed up for a date with a random chick that she didn't even know – even if she knew she looked good in her army green harem pants and ikat top. "_Why did I do this again_?" she asked herself for the millionth time. She kept telling herself that she was doing this for Lacey, but she knew that wasn't true – not entirely anyway. She was there because she was curious about who Lacey had decided to set her up with, and she was holding out hope for one person in particular.

Jo let out a frustrated breath, checking her phone for the umpteenth time. Whomever her date was for the evening, she was late and with every minute that passed Jo was losing her nerve. At eight minutes after the hour Jo was ready to go. Just as she stood up to get her jacket, she heard a voice behind her.

"Leaving already, Jo?"

She turned quickly, a huge smile breaking over her face as she saw Sarita standing there. "H-hey Sarita," she stammered, blushing slightly and berating herself internally again.

"Hey," the other girl said, smirking at the flustered expression on Jo's face. Clearly, Jo was just as surprised as she was about their date. "So, I take it Lacey didn't tell you about me either, huh?"

"Ummm, no – she just told me where and when to show up."

Sarita nodded her head, moving to the other side of the table to sit down. "That sounds about right. She and Danny are probably in the middle of a big, sweaty reunion right about now… but hey, she was right about one thing – my date for tonight is hot!"

The girls settled into a comfortable conversation, quickly catching up on each of their weeks. They knew each other casually as mutual friends of friends, but this was different – this was getting to know someone on a more intimate level. They smiled and laughed at one another, flirting back and forth as they enjoyed their food and drinks. By the end of the evening, both girls felt as though this was the start of something special.

"I never knew you were so funny, Jo," Sarita said, laughing as they walked down the sidewalk. Their dinner was over and now they were stalling, neither wanting to say goodnight.

"You wanna walk down by the pier with me?" Jo asked shyly. Sarita smiled in response, taking her hand as they made their way toward the water. When they arrived Sarita leaned her back toward the railing, facing Jo.

"I'm really glad we did this tonight," she said, smiling sheepishly. "I wasn't sure if I was going to have fun – honestly I didn't even want to come… but I'm glad I did."

"You didn't want to come tonight because of Lacey, right?" Jo asked earnestly. Sarita didn't answer, only looked down at her shoes. Jo took her chin, leaning her face up to look into her eyes. "I understand – I know what that's like. But I'm glad you decided to come. I've had a lot of fun with you."

"I've had a lot of fun with you, too," Sarita said, the smile returning to her face. "It's nice to go out and just be myself, you know? With my friends I always have to watch what I say and do – especially with Lacey… but that isn't important tonight – tonight is about us, right?"

Not waiting for an answer, Sarita reached up to pull Jo's face toward her, their lips meeting in a kiss. It was tentative at first, neither of them sure of what they were doing or how far they wanted to go. Jo brought her hands up to Sarita's hair, stroking it lightly, deepening their kiss. They broke apart after several seconds, faces flushed and eyes sheepish, smiling at each other in wonder. "Let's get out of here," Jo said, taking Sarita's hand and leading her off into the night.

* * *

"Excuse me, Chief," Phoebe said shakily, looking nervously from side to side as she entered the police department. "I need to talk to you about Lacey Porter…"


	18. Author's Note

Hey guys - just wanted to let you guys know I'm still alive and haven't abandoned you or my stories. I've had a really bad case of strep throat that had me down for the count for about a week, and then my partner and I broke up so I'm in the midst of moving... Needless to say I haven't had much of a chance to write lately. That said, I'm planning on coming back once I get moved and settled. Thanks for the PMs from everyone who checked on me - love you guys! Kio 


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